-NRLF THRILLING SCENES THE OCEAN Oft, S^ELL LIFE AT SEA, Collection of Nautical Yarns. NEW YORK : DERBY & JACKSON, 498 BROADWAY, 1860. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1854, BY STRINGER & TOWNSEND, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of .New fork. PREFACE. TN presenting the present Volume to the J- reading public, we have thought that a word or two of preface would not be out of place. We have always believed that all that was necessary to make a Volume of Nautical Tales popular and acceptable, was to get it up in a good shape, and place it properly before the world. The ocean is a vast store-house, from which Literature can extract as many valuables as Commerce. Sea life abounds so greatly in incidents, that nautical tales ever possess a freshness that no other species of composi tion can possibly lay claim to. In the course of a single year, a maritime officer will pass over a large portion of the world. He starts from New York or London, and in a few days he finds himself surrounded by the aroma of the tropics. Leaving the tropics, he passes down to Cape Horn visits the Indian Ocean looks in upon the Chinese and the next month, perhaps, directs his prow towards the Arctic Ocean, Russian America, and the dan gers and excitements of Behering's Straits and v PREFACE. Hudson's Bay. At all these places he supplies himself with new ideas, sees mankind under a new aspect, and enriches his common-place book with a thousand facts and fancies, of whose existence the man of conservative habits has no possible idea. The articles which make up this volume have been selected, with great care, from the writings of some of the best authors of the age ; they are of all possible temperaments, from the rollicking adventures of Forbessy to the daring excitements of a Guineaman. Should the volume of which we are now speaking meet with that success which it so justly deserves, we shall follow it up with others on the same subject the whole forming a Nautical Library superior to any yet pub- lished in America. CONTENTS. CRUISE OF A GUINEAMAN 7 FITZ-GUBIN ; OB, THE ADMIRAL'S PET, . 47 HOMEWARD BOUND, 261 AQUATIC EXPEDITION FROM GIBRATAR TO BARCELONA, 283 MR. SNIGSBY'S YACHT, 316 THE DEATH SHOT A TALE OF THE COAST GUARD, . 414 CRUISE OF A GUINEAMAN. FROM A MIDSHIPMAN'S LOG. BY JOHN W. GOULD, ESQ. CHAPTER I. TACK GARNET," quoth Tom Seymour, as we stood J upon Pier No. 1, North River, one afternoon in July, 18 , " do you see my brig, yonder ? She is a sweet craft carries twenty long-eighteens, and a long forty-two, besides two twenty-four pound carronades on the poop, and two on the forecastle ; two hundred men, who are stationed and quartered as in men-of-war ; three officers, whom I call, for fun's sake, second and third lieutenants, and master ; and half-a-dozen boys for reefers. Now I want a first lieutenant, and you are the very fellow. Ship with me, and we'll run down to the Trades in ten days, and then whew ! Go' away, salt water I She is a Baltimore clipper, sails like the devil, and will put the wind's eye out on a bowline. Give her one point free, and she's off* like a shot. Will you go?" "Thank you/' I replied, "I am somewhat ticklish about the neck. I would rather be hung round the waist. You are too strong to be honest ; and when you are on blue water, you will make some mistake on the subject of pro- 8 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, perty ; and then the first man-of-war you fall in with, will string you all up at her yard-arm, and that's an elevation for which I am in no wise ambitious. I would rather die in my bed when the time comes." " Well," replied Tom, " I am sorry you are so particular about your cravats : but will you go on board and take a look at her ? I hove-short this morning, and shall trip my anchor in half an hour and go to sea. Come, I'll leave you at quarantine." We jumped into his boat, (a twelve-oared cutter,) and pulled for the brig. As we neared it a boatswain's call "piped the side ;" four side-boys manned the gangway as we passed over, and we were received upon deck in true man-o'-war fashion. " Why, Captain Seymour," said I, " you have a regular man-of-war brig here." " Yes," he replied, leading the way to his cabin, " she's a Johnny War. Mr. Carline, (second lieutenant,) hoist in boats, and get ready for weighing anchor, sir." " Now, Garnet," he continued, as we were drinking wine in the cabin, " you had better reconsider, and go with me. You can make your fortune in one cruise on the coast of Africa, where we are bound." " Save your breath to cool your porridge, friend Sey mour," said I, "for I tell you flatly, I will not go ; and you may as well set your mind at ease on that point, for I have no more dodge about me than the main-mast." At this instant, a reefer reported all ready for weighing anchor. " Call all hands up anchor, then," said he. " Garnet, will you take the trumpet, just to oblige me ? I have some writing to do before we leave the port." I took the deck, accordingly. The capstan was manned, the anchor run up, and sail made ; and with a smacking FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 9 breeze from the northwest, we dropped down the bay. Just before we reached the quarantine, Seymour came on deck. " Captain Seymour," said I, " you will please take com mand : I wish to be set on shore here. Port, quarter master. Boatswain's-mate, call away third-cutters." " Belay all I" interrupted Seymour. " Lieutenant Garnet, you are in for it, and shall go with me anyhow." "Perhaps I shall," said I, dispatching the trumpet at his head, as I walked forward to the starboard-gangway to look out for a shore-boat. There was none near, and look ing aft, I saw Seymour clear away the end of the main- royal-halliard, and tie it in a running-bowline. That ma noeuvre showed me that there was no time to be lost, and as we were now in the narrows, and within a hundred yards of the Staten Island shore, I buttoned my roundabout, and hailing Seymour, "Here goes for the coast of Africa I" jumped overboard and struck out for the land. Seymour, however, was as wide awake as I, and as I rose to strike out the second time, his running-bowline came over my head, caught me round the body, and I was hauled on board before I knew what was the matter. " There," said he, laughing, as he met me at the gang way, " you see I am a bit of a Guacho, and can throw a lasso on a pinch. You are hung round the waist, now^ just as you wished not long since." My reply to his wit was a blow with my fist, which tum- bbd him across the deck in fine style ; but before I could repeat it, I was overpowered, and being taken upon the poop, was lashed hand and foot to a carronade. " Now then, Lieutenant Garnet," said Seymour, " when we get out of sight of land, I'll loose you ; but if I were to do it sooner, I'm afraid you would be overboard again." As I could not do battle, I quietly submitted to my fate, because swearing would do no good. So now behold me, 1* 10 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, bound for foreign parts first lieutenant of a brig-of-wnr anchored head and stern athwart-ships of a carronade. As we passed the forts, the first object which met our view was the frigate Constellation, at anchor in the lower bay. " The devil !" said Seymour, clapping a spy-glass to his eye ; " she dropped down yesterday, and had, I supposed, gone to sea. I remember they looked at me pretty hard as they passed me at anchor, and now they are waiting to catch me. I'll weather them yet." As we neared the frigate, I observed some motion aboard of her ; and in an instant after, all the ports of the main- gun-deck, on the starboard side the side toward us, as she rode at anchor were taken out, and the tompions of all that battery followed. " Do you see that, Captain Seymour ?" said I, smiling. "I do, Lieutenant Garnet," was his reply. "Port, quarter-master." " Port, sir." "Mr. Carline," he continued, "take the deck, sir, while I uniform. Keep her head for the stern of that frigate." He went into the cabin, and in a moment reappeared, in the full uniform of the United States' Navy, cocked-hat, sword, a pair of pistols in his belt, and a cigar in his mouth. As he came upon the poop, a sheet of red flame glanced from one of the Constellation's ports, which was followed by the emphatic report of a thirty-two-pounder. The ball, by accident of course, struck our cut-water, and made us minus a figure-head. "The English of that," said Seymour, "is 'come-to, you rascal.' Since my friend, the commodore, wishes it, I'll do that thing. Port, quarter-master. Keep her for the bows of the Constellation. Loose royals and to'gallantsails, for we've a stiff breeze, and I have no idea of being afraid of them. Send up our black ensign, signal-quarter-master, at FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. li the peak, fore and main, and under it the American flag ! There !" smacking his lips^ as that dread banner floated gayly on the breeze, over the stars and stripes, " that will do better. Lieutenant Garnet, what say you ?" " Go to the devil 1" I replied, for I was not in the best of humor. " If I do, Lieutenant John Garnet," said he, complacently, " I have the satisfaction of knowing that you will sail in company." "Cast loose both batteries," he continued, "and load each a round-shot, a stand of grape and canister, and fill the long forty-two to the muzzle." When we were about two hundred yards from the frigate, dashing ahead at ten knots, he ordered the drums to beat to quarters, took his stand upon the starboard-quarter rail to cun the brig, and sung out : " Slack the lee-braces round-in the weather ones star board the helm, hard-a-starboard 1" . We fell off before the wind, and passed abreast the Con stellation, as she rode head to the wind, so closely, that the muzzles of her long main-deckers almost touched our bul warks. The captain of the Constellation stood abaft upon the signal-locker ; and Seymour coolly tossing his cigar upon her deck, hailed him : " Brother commodore, if you are short of hands, I'll lend you a hundred, and take payment in round-shot and canister." " Commodore Montague," / hailed, " I am detained here by force. Compel my release, sir." " Heave-to, you sir," said Montague to Seymour, " and send that man aboard of me, instantly." " Fll see you first," was Seymour's resolute reply. " Heave-to, instantly," repeated Montague, " or I'll sink you 1" ' 12 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, " Do it, and be to you," replied Seymour, drawing his cutlass in defence. " Man the starboard-battery 1 Port, hard-a-port stand by mind the weather roll fire 1" We passed under the Constellation's stern, raking her, as each gun came to bear, dismounting her stern chasers, and clearing her main-gun-deck entirely, for the moment. " Starboard the helm I" hailed Seymour, firing a pistol at Montague. -We fell off before the wind, and keeping the Constella tion's three masts in one, made all sail for the bar, there being no time for chat, as she of course would instantly slip her cable, and bring her broadside to bear. Our fears were groundless, though Seymour's matchless effrontery was all that saved him. While the Constellation's guns actually bore upon us, they were restrained from firing, by their amazement at the impudence of the "little fellow ;" and, at this moment, they could not fire if they would. Their cap stan-bars were shipped, and everything was in readiness for weighing anchor, when we hove in sight ; but our strange conduct perplexed Captain Montague, and our raking broadside completely nonplussed him. Our shot unshipped his capstan-bars, cut up his messenger, and totally demol ished the bitts where the cable was belayed ; in consequence of which, the cable ran out until it was brought up by getting foul in the hause-hole, and there it was jammed perfectly fast. The combination of so many unusual events produced an unwonted result ; and for the first time since tar and oakum came into fashion, a United States' ship was in confusion ; and before order was restored, we were across the bar, and nearly out of shot, without the loss of a man. Perceiving that I might as well make the best of a bad bargain, I hailed Seymour : FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 13 " Cut these lashings, Tom ; I will do as you wish, since I can't avoid it." " You are a clever fellow, Garnet," said he, complying with my request ; " I like your spunk. You are just the man to be my first lieutenant : will you take that command ?" "I will," said I, "and I'll be obeyed and respected accordingly." " It is a bargain," he replied, grasping my hand ; and, turning to his crew, he informed them of my elevation, and commanded their obedience. "The Constellation has slipped her cable, sir," reported the signal-quarter-master, "and is making all sail in chase." " Very good," answered Seymour, "she cannot catch us." "You are wrong there," said I, " she brings the breeze with her, and as it will soon blow a gale, she will have the advantage." " Night is coming on," said Seymour, " and we'll dodge them. That we can do at any rate." " You will please remember, Captain Seymour," said I, "that you have a Yankee to deal with ; and, moreover, the fellows whose skins you chafed with grape and cannister will feel rather touchy, and keep a bright look-out." "Ay," replied he, smiling, "and the commodore, too, will like an opportunity to return my pistol-shot. Take the deck, Garnet, while I work up my reckoning, and make my will." It was now growing dark, and the array of clouds in the northwest, and the increasing swell of the sea, plainly showed that a gale was coming. It was, therefore, neces sary to get all the start we could before it came on to blow ; for in a gale the Constellation, being larger and heavier, could carry sail longer than we, and of course would o^ar- 14 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, take us. I accordingly gave orders to set fore and raain- royals, and fore and main-topmast-studdm'-sails, and as she bore that well, I added to'-gallant-studdin'-sails, boarded the starboard-tack 1 :, and putting her head south-by-west, we were off at twelve knots an hour. It was now nearly dark, but with our night glasses we could see the Constellation, under sky-sails, arid royal-stud- din'-sails, steering directly for us, with the speed and the fury of an avalanche. " Well," said Seymour, watching her with his spy-glass, "unless Montague takes in his sky-sails arid royal-studdin'- sails pretty soon, he will have the royal-masts over the side, for the breeze is much fresher with him than with us." At this moment a heavy squall struck the Constellation : as soon as it cleared up, the signal-quarter-master reported that her sky-sails and royal-studdin'-sails were blown away. " That's good news," said Seymour, chuckling ; " Garnet, we'll distance them yet." " She has bent new sky-sails, sir," reported the quarter master, a moment after. " The devil she has !" said Tom, stopping short in his walk " why, she's in earnest. Set our royal-studdin'-sails, and sky-sails, Mr. Garnet we'll pull foot." I obeyed the order, and away we went, with our studdin'- sail tacks, and royal and skysail back-stays, as taut as bars of iron. For a while nothing material happened, and each about held her own ; but at two bells in the evening watch, the Constellation's skysails and royal-studdin'-sails blew away, and the skysail masts overboard. " That is a fair hint," observed Seymour : " Mr. Garnet, we'll save our skysails, and royal-studdin'-sails. Take them in, sir." The order was obeyed, and for a moment the brig was Jb UN, .FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 16 easier but the wind freshening very much, we were obliged soon after to furl the royals ; and, shortening sail as it be came necessary, at four bells in the evening-watch we were under main-to'-gallantsail, while the frigate had all three to'-gallantsails and main-royal standing, coming on " hand over fist." At six bells she was within range of our long forty-two a heavier gun than any she carried. It being run out at a stern port, Seymour pointed it himself, and watching the send-forward, fired. The ball struck the frigate's figure-head, scattering it about in fine style. " There," said Seymour, laughing, " we are even now. She knocked my figure-head to pieces in the bay, and now I have given her as good."' After we had fired a few times, the frigate's bow-chasers began to give tongue ; and, each hoping to disable the other, shots were exchanged with gretit gusto, although it was too dark to see the effect. But, in spite of everything, she continued to gain upon us, and at two bells in the mid- watch was within two miles of us, the wind blowing a gale, under whole topsails and courses, while we had a reef in each. As a last refuge, we bore off before the wind, continuing to blaze away with our long forty-two, while she, as we kept her three masts in one, could not fire a shot ; but, although our shot evidently told, they did not do much mischief. At four bells in the mid-watch, she was within half-a-mile, and was preparing to give us a broadside, which would have paid off all scores, when a tremendous squall suddenly came over, and it became entirely dark. We hauled our wind instantly, boarded our larboard- tacks, put out every light, and kept silence fore-and-aft. The frigate, not aware of that manoeuvre, continued her course, and in five minutes dashed past us, and we were safe, being dead to windward. It continued very dark for half an 16 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, hour, and when it finally cleared up a little, the Constellation was nearly hull-down in the southeast. So we escaped her that time, and when we had stood northeast long enough, we squared away, and as the gale moderated, made all sail for the southward and eastward. A few days after these occurrences, the look-out aloft, one morning, reported a sail ahead crossing our course. "Keep her away for that vessel, sir," said Seymour to the officer of the deck, " arid call all hands to make sail." Taking the deck, as, according to man-of-war rules, it was my duty to do when all hands were called, I made all sail a trifle quicker than lightning, and then surrendered the trumpet to the officer of the watch. The stranger, perceiving that we were chasing him, made all sail to avoid us ; but it was not so easy to escape, when it put the wind out of breath to keep up with us j and ac cordingly we were very soon so near that they, in obedi ence, to our signal-gun, hove to. We hove-to also, and a boat being lowered and manned, Seymour said to me : "When I wave my handkerchief, Garnet, send up our black ensign at the main, and fire a gun across that fellow's bows ;" and jumping into the boat, he boarded the stran ger, whom we now perceived was an outward-bound English East-Indiaman. We were so near, that I distinctly saw all his motions. Leaving the crew in the boat, he boarded the Englishman alone, and meeting her captain at the gang way, he saluted him very politely, and took a turn or two with him upon the deck, as if inquiring the news. Shortly after, however, he apparently made some disagreeable re mark, for they both stopped, and began to gesticulate vio lently, as if their discourse was becoming interesting ; and Seymour, drawing his handkerchief from his pocket, care lessly waved it, by way of accenting his discourse. In stantly the sable banner of piracy floated at the mast-head. FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 17 and an eighteen-pound shot, travelling across the English man's fore-foot, put an end to his opposition, and he began to execute Seymour's mandates. A lot of kegs were shortly after passed into our boat, in a manner which showed that, at the least, they were heavy, and Seymour, courteously bid ding Captain Bull adieu, pulled aboard. "Hoist those up carefully, my lads," said he. "What have you there, Captain Seymour ?" I inquired. " Only a few thousand guineas, Lieutenant Garnet," he replied, "which I borrowed from that ship." "He'll be lucky," said I, "if he ever gets his pay." CHAPTER II. ONE morning, about forty-five days after we left New- York, we made land in the Gulf of Guinea. Crowding all sail, we rapidly approached it, and were within five or six miles, when a long, low, black, suspicious-looking schooner, shot out from behind a small island, a short distance ahead, and, without asking any questions, bore down for us. "Ready-about! ready, ready I" hailed Seymour, with startling quickness, seizing the trumpet. The helm was put down, and in an instant we were on the other tack, standing out to sea. " I know her I" ejaculated Seymour " she is an English man-of-war, and is commanded by one of the sharpest ras cals that ever drew pay and rations. He calls his schooner the ' Dare-devil,' and no name was ever so appropriate, for both master and vessel. He attacks everything, large and small ; laughs at steel and gunpowder, and I do not believe he knows what fear is. The world is not wide enough to hold both of us, and come what may, there will be one ras cal less on the seas at sunset. I have sworn vengeance 18 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, against him, and I will take it so amply, that none shall live to report to the Lords of the Admiralty in what man ner one of his Majesty's cruisers went to the devil." When we were twelve or fifteen miles from the land, we tacked again, and although the breeze was a stiff one, set every inch of canvas and stood in for the shore. The schooner continued her course, and standing on opposite tacks, we rapidly neared each other. Our ports were closed, and as we made no use of our guns, the English evidently supposed that what appeared to be long eighteens, were actually quaker-guns, made of the best of wood for show, not use and that our plan was to cross their hawse, and run in-shore. As soon as we were within range, they opened upon us with a long twenty-four ; and, to do them justice, they tossed their iron with most terrible exactness and consider able effect ; but as her shot hulled us, they did not interfere with Seymour's plan. Ordering the men to lie down upon deck, to avoid the Englishman's fire, he continued to walk upon the poop as composedly as if he were ball-proof j although, as her bat tery (long-twelves) began to take effect, the shot flew thick as hail, tearing open our bulwarks, and knocking the white splinters about in every direction. As we approached still nearer, her musketry opened upon us in full volley ; yet, although he was the target for every shot, he seemed totally unconscious of danger. With a flushed cheek, and an eye flashing fire, he stood proudly erect, and delivered his orders to the man-at-the-wheel, as composedly as if he were setting a studdin'-sail. When our flying-jib-boom was nearly locking with hers, he suddenly shouted, with a voice like a trumpet-call : " STARBOARD THE HELM !" We fell off from the wind, and, rising upon a wave, our heavy bows struck the fated vessel FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 19 amidships with a tremendous crash. We passed clean over, cutting her completely in two : an unearthly yell arose from a hundred and fifty brave fellows, as they sunk quick to the bottom ; and when we flew aft to catch a glimpse of the wreck, nothing was visible, save the pennant at the main- to'-gallant-mast-head, which for an instant floated upon the surface of the deep, and was then drawn down after the hapless wretches, who had so often shed their blood in its defence ! Having passed the vortex caused by her going down, the brig was hove-to ; as I supposed for the purpose of picking up the survivors, if there were any. But such was not Seymour's plan and one poor fellow, who, stunned and strangling, rose to the surface, clinging to a spar for dear life, was not even allowed the miserable privilege of floating upon it, until the sharks, or the burning sun of the Equator, should put a period to his agony, but was deliberately shot by Seymour himself, acting upon the stern maxim that " dead men tell no tales." A deed of so dark a hue was never before perpetrated under the azure sky, nor on the deep sea, since the unborn surges slumbered in chaos, and darkness lay upon the face of the deep. "Mr. Garnet," said Seymour, recovering his rifle as if he had been shooting a duck, " fill the main-topsail, and stand in-shore." Three times I raised the trumpet to my lips, to give the necessary orders, and as often withdrew it; and finally, being totally unable to command either my voice or my feelings, I dashed it down upon deck, and walked away without a word. Seymour looked up at me in surprise, and then, deliberately picking up the trumpet, gave the requisite commands with his usual composure. When we were under-way, standing for the shore, he ordered the boatswain to call " all hands 20 SWELL-LIFE AT SEA; OR, to splice the main-brace," remarking, that the toast should be, "Here's wishing the Dare-devils a pleasant passage to !" " Garnet," said Seymour, when we were about? three miles from the shore, " do you see that head-land yonder, in the south-east ? It is the northern cape of the bay which we shall enter, and is now sixteen miles distant. I wish you to observe the course we take to fetch it, and then say if this coast was not cut out for the express benefit of the slave-trade." We continued our course, steering head-on, until within half a mile of the shore, and then hauled our wind, and put her head due south, keeping parallel to the beach. About ten minutes afterward, the look-out, on the fore-topsail yard, sung out : " Breakers ahead !" Seymour was standing upon the poop, looking astern : he turned short around at this announcement, and hailed : " Fore-topsail-yard there I Two points on the starboard bow, you lubber, distant two miles." tl Captain Seymour," said I, in surprise, "your eye-sight is better than mine. Those breakers are not visible from the deek." " I know it," he replied, " but I am as well acquainted with every inch of this coast as you are with the pavements of Broadway. I could sail a line-of-battle-ship through this channel, in perfect safety, the darkest night old ocean ever saw, by the lead alone. Straight as you go, quarter master." " Dise, no higher," repeated he at the cun. " These breakers," continued Seymour, " are caused by a reef of rocks, running across the mouth of that bay, and stretching ten miles each way, parallel to tfte beach, and distant from it, on the average, half a mile. Inside the FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 2] reef we have a clear, safe channel, carrying ten fathom water, to within a ship's length of the beach, and at both ends a safe entrance. Now all this is for our particular benefit ; for, in order to enter that bay a vessel must go all this distance around ; and while a man-of-war comes in at one end, we can slip out at the other. If this does not prove that Jemmy Flatfoot had a hand in laying out the coast of Africa, yon may call me a marine." " Pretty good reasoning, friend Seymour," said I : " you've made it very plain that the Devil is chief cook and bottle-washer for the slave-trade. I don't wonder it prospers so well, since he is at the wheel:" We were now inside the reef, and sailing along rapidly, were within a mile of the entrance to the bay, when a small canoe shoved off from the shore, and we were boarded by one of the most hideous-looking black rascals that ever walked on two feet. Running up the side like a monkey, he tumbled over the gangway, and accosted Seymour, who met him there, as an old friend ; and after jabbering away a few minutes in some barbarous lingo, he took a bottle of rum, which Seymour had ordered for him, rolled into his canoe, and run it high and dry on the beach. He brought himself to anchor in the sand, and began to discuss the con tents of the said bottle with an earnestness which plainly showed that they two would not part company, until one or t'other knocked under. "Mr. Garnet," said Seymour, walking aft, "my good friend there has informed me, that there are now two Eng lish frigates at anchor in the bay. I must send them both to sea in twenty minutes after I enter. Do you speak Por tuguese ?" "Si, Senhor," said I, " and every other language ; except ing, always, the gibberish of that black friend of yours." " Yery good," he replied ; " I shall report myself to the 22 SWELL LIFE AT SEA ; OR, English as Don So-and-so, (with a string of titles as long as the main-to'-bowline,) commander of the Brazilian brig-of- war AchilM, 24, on a cruise ; and will spin them a yarn, which will clear the bay of them as soon as they can up anchor. I have Brazilian uniforms for all the officers and myself, which we will bend now, and walk into the bay under Brazilian colors." We rigged ourselves accordingly, and mustering upon the poop, sailed into the harbor, with the Brazilian ensign at the peak. It was quite small, and the English frigates were at anchor, near the centre of it, some distance asun der. Gradually shortening sail, we backed our main-top sail abreast the Commodore's ship, within about two hun dred yards ; and when we had lost headway, I roared out in Portuguese (for their edification :) " Let go the starboard anchor 1" twisting the n's and tho o's and the r's about in every direction. AYe then furled sails, squared the yards by the lifts and braces, hooked the yard-tackles, hoisted our boats, and manning the captain's barge with Portuguese, Seymour pulled aboard the English flagship. He was received with the usual honors, and had been on board but a few minutes, when three small flags were run up at the mizen, and a gun fired to awake the other frigate. Not being conversant with the English code of signals, I did not know what to make of this, when an old quarter-master, who had served under Kelson, perceiv ing my ignorance, informed me that it was, " Hoist in boats, and prepare to weigh." The English ships were now all alive. Boat after boat was dropped alongside from the guess-warp, and hoisted in, two at a time, (one each side,) decks cleared up, and cap stans manned. At this moment Seymour came over the gangway of the flag-ship, and as he shoved off, the Brazilian flag was sent up at the fore, and saluted with eleven guns FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 23 We returned the salute British ensign at the fore, with the same number and as they, having weighed anchor, swept past us, making sail, we gave them three cheers, which were duly returned. " Seymour," said I, when the bustle was over, " what did you tell that fellow ?" " Oh !" said he, recovering breath after a severe fit of laughter, " it was not any of your land-yarns, slack-twisted stuff ; it was an out-and-outer. When I first boarded her, I began by asking, very coolly, in Portuguese, what were the names of the frigates, where they were from, and where bound, and whom I had the honor of addressing, etc. The crusty old commodore, having answered my questions in as few words as possible, in Spanish, desired to know the same of me, and asked if I could speak English. But devil the bit of English could I speak : ' No intendez Englise, Senor,' said I, with a face as long as the jib-downhaul, and then proceeded to tell him that my name was ' Don So-and-so ;' that my brig was the Brazilian brig-of-war Achilla on a cruise ; that we fell in, this morning, with a suspicious-look ing schooner, mounting eighteen guns, under English colors, and gave her chase ; but as she stood out to sea, and sailed very fast, we had given over the chase, because we had been on short allowance of water for so that they could come up and attack us on terms of equal ity knowing full well that to attempt to carry us in boats would be madness. All the morning, business went on as usual, and, except receiving slaves on board, we made no apparent preparation for sea, lest the English should learn it from the natives, who we well knew always served the strongest party. But in reality, every preparation was made, and by four bells in the forenoon watch we were completely ready for sea. At seven bells, (half-past eleven,) Seymour, who had beei ashore, deliberately returned aboard. "Mr. Carline," said he to the second lieutenant, "jump ito that canoe alongside, with a couple of men, and pull to the turn in the river. Wave your handkerchief when the English liner pipes to dinner, and then pull for us. Mr. Garnet, hoist in all the boats, and stow the quarter-boats amid-ships in the launch, instead of running them up the davits." "Now, sir," said Seymour, "pipe down hammocks." " Down hammocks, indeed," thought I, as I repeated the order ; " pretty well done for seven bells, A. M. Captain Seymour," said I, "it strikes me you are getting sleepy." " You will find I am wide awake, I guess," replied Sey mour. " Now then, John Garnet, uushackle the cable abaft FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 33 the bitts, and stand by to slip it. Loose all sail, and hoist away everything. Brace up sharp on the larboard tack. Man sheets and tacks, and stand by to sheet home. Clear away both batteries, and run them in," the guns were double shotted with grape and cannister " and now, Mr. Garnet, we are ready to run ly them." " The-e-e devil!" said I, as I walked away, thunderstruck at the madness of his plan ; " hark you, Captain Seymour, if that's your scheme, we are candidates for immortality as true as I am a sinner." * " Mr. Garnet," said Seymour, angrily, " I beg you will remember that I command this vessel." " Ay," said I, " and you will please to remember that I am a pressed man. But this is no time for quarrelling, so we'll be friends for the present. By and by, I promise myself the gratification of shooting you at ten paces." " Do," he replied, coolly. The wind was now blowing fresh from the northeast the tide was running down at four knots and we rode head to the wind by the larboard-bower, with a kedge astern. Seymour stood upon the poop, watch in hand. " It keeps English time," said he, " for I set it by their bell this morning. It now wants one minute of twelve. Mr. Garnet, slip the chain-cable we'll ride by the kedgo." It was slipped accordingly, and the brig swinging around, was brought up by the kedge, though it seemed as if the hawser would part with the strain. A carpenter's mate stood by, axe in hand, ready to cut, and Seymour watched Carline for the signal. An instant after, he waved his handkerchief, and struck out for us. "Sheet home ! cut away !" shouted Seymour. It was done in an instant we were under way and Carline and his men jumped aboard, leaving the canoe adrift. 2* 34 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; on, "Now," said Seymour, "go below, every man of you, except those at the wheel, and stay there till you are called. I will shoot the first man that puts his head above the combings of the hatches. Mr. Garnet, you had better go below, too you can do nothing on deck/ 7 " I am greatly obliged to you, sir," said I, " but I'll stay on deck and see the fun." We shortly doubled the point, and with wind and tide, shot rapidly down the stream. We were not observed, and approached nearer and nearer to the liner, undiscovered, until our flying jib-boom was nearly over her taffrail. " Port !" whispered Seymour. The helm was shifted accordingly, and we passed the starboard side of the seventy-four so closely, that her main- deck battery swept our larboard-hammock-netting off clear, while our starboard bulwarks almost touched the bank of the river. Knocking the ashes from the cigar which was accidentally in my mouth, I fired the aftermost gun of the larboard battery plump into the liner, just as her crew, aroused by the collision, dropped their cans it being grog- time manned their starboard battery, and let drive. They were a little behind time, however, for we had that instant shot past them, and all their guns threw their iron harmlessly astern of us, while we, doubling the point, were soon out of their reach. "All hands make sail!" shouted Seymour; "round in the larboard-braces. Stand by the starboard studdm'- sails." With such government, we were under all sail in less than no time, and with studding-sails, and sky-sails, the wind on the starboard-quarter, we dashed down the bay. c" Pretty well done, Captain Seymour," said I ; " but you are not safe yet. Do you hear that ?" The English frigates, awakened by the liner's broadside,. FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 35 were beating to quarters, and as they lay across the chan nel, on each side of the mouth of the bay, I thought our final escape was yet a question. Not so, Seymour for, rubbing his hands in irrepressible glee, he walked about the poop, giving his orders, almost beside himself with joy. " Hillo, signal-quartermaster I" said he we won't mince matters ! send up our black ensign at the main. We'll give Johnny Bull a target for his shot." The words were scarcely out of his mouth, when a storm of iron rushed past us, and looking astern, we saw that the liner, having slipped her cables and fired 1 a broadside, was coming after us, making all sail. " Very good oysters," said Seymour, with a grimace that a baboon might have envied : " Mr. Garnet, poke at him with our stern-chasers, and make him a 'candidate for immortality/ while I try my hand at guessing with these fellows ahead." . ^ We acccordingly blazed away with our stern-chasers, to injure him if possible, and to cover ourselves with smoke. We soon reached the mouth of the bay, and just before we passed the points which would bring us within range of the frigates, Seymour sang out : " Man both batteries ! Straight as you go, quarter master." We passed the capes, steering right on for the jeef, which, as I have already mentioned, ran across the mouth of the bay and as soon as our guns came to bear, we gave each frigate a broadside, and our aim being true, and the guns double-shotted, they made a crashing. They reserved their fire, thinking that we should be obliged to pass neai one or the other, and they would then give it to us solidly. We continued our fire ; and Seymour, standing upon the poop, began to cun the brig himself; and although the smoke was so dense that we could not see a fathon\ 36 ' SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, gave his orders as promptly as if it were clear day and plain channel. " Blaze away, my lads," said he,-" we'll do Johnny Bull, all we can." An instant after he sung out : " Knock off firing ! Hold on, everybody !" The order was obeyed, and the next moment we struck heavily on the reef. " Yery good," said Seymour ; " once more, you beauty." We struck again, and then slipped over the reef into deep water. "All hands cheer ship !" he shouted. We sent up the English ensign at the fore, gave it three cheers, and went on our course under all sail. The English could not follow us over the reef, as they drew too much water ; but they slipped their cables, fired their broadsides at us in spite, and then stood through the channel ; .but before they were clear of it, we were hull-down in the southwest. Take it as a whole, our escape was really a masterpiece of daring and nautical skill. It required the mind of a man to conceive the plan of running past a line-of-battle-ship in broad daylight and in such a channel, and indomitable reso lution to put that plan into effect ; for had we been discov ered two minutes sooner, one broadside would have totally annihilated us. The attempt was made when the English piped to dinner and grog, because they would naturally be remiss in their look-out at this time thinking more of the grog-tub than of us. Hammocks were piped down, because Seymour knew that the liner's main deckers would just sweep the netting. Yards were braced sharp, because, if square, they would lock in the Englishman's rigging. Boats were stowed amidships, because there was no room forlhein on the quarter. Guns were run in for the same reason ; and, after crossing the bay, he steered over the FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 37 reef, knowing that there was one place where we should tonch-and-go without injury. Such seamanship deserved success whatever were the cause and obtained it ; for at sunset we were clear of land, and the English fleet was out of sight astern. " Mr. Garnet/' said Seymour, as soon as it was dark, " we'll haul our wind, and stand southeast for the land, because I have no idea of going to Brazil half-loaded." "We altered our course accordingly, and stood for the shore. The former part of the night was quite dark, but about four bells in the mid-watch it cleared up a little. I was accidentally on deck at the time, and, sweeping the horizon with my night-glass, I discovered a strange sail on the starboard bow, distant about three miles. Reporting it to Seymour, I received orders to give chase, and putting up the helm, and crowding all sail, we were after her as fast as a six-knot breeze would carry us. The stranger, perceiv ing us, made all sail to escape, but it was in vain for at daylight, we were within half a mile. She was evidently a Guineaman, being a long, low, suspicious-looking schooner, and we ranged up within pistol-shot without firing a gun, so that we could not break any of her crockery, and ordered her captain to come on board. He came accordingly, and Seymour, receiving him on the quarter-deck, being moved by virtuous indignation no doubt, began to read him a furi ous lecture on the enormities of the slave-trade. " Why," said he in astonishment, pointing to the woolly pates lying about our decks, " you are a slaver, too." But Seymour only lectured the harder, and wound up as regular-built a preachment as any chaplain ever spun, by ordering him, at his peril, to send all his slaves on board of us instantly. He did not dare to disobey ; and, when the transfer was completed, Seymour quietly said to him : " Now, sir, you may go back to Africa, and get r.s many 38 SWELL LIFE AT SEA more as you like, for these just complete my cargo. There, Mr. Garnet," he continued, as we filled and stood away to the westward, " that's what we slavers call 'borrowing.' 11 Having nothing now to detain us, we cracked away mer rily for the southward and west'ard, and about noon of the eighteenth day after leaving the coast of Guinea, the look out aloft reported a sail on the starboard bow. The wind being the south-east trade, and blowing fresh, we instantly Dp-helm, made all sail, and gave chase, and by four bells in the afternoon watch, we could see with our glasses that she was a large ship on the larboard tack, heading west, and sailing lazily along under topsails and coursers. One thing was very plain : the stranger was in no kind of haste, and being led by this fact to examine her more closely, I became convinced she was a man-of-war, and accordingly remarked to Seymour, that perhaps she would be a Scotch prize. But he replied, that having the weather-gage, we could sail as near as we liked with perfect safefy, and therefore cracked away. As we sailed very fast, we were within four or five miles of her at seven bells in the afternoon watch, and then saw plainly that she was a frigate. She showed English colors, and fired a gun to attract our observation ; but we took no notice of either. " Mr. Garnet," said Seymour, " I believe that is one of he English frigates we choused so neatly a fortnight since, and we'll run down to them, so that we may know them, and they us*" We accordingly approached within two miles of her, keeping well to windward, and then fired our long forty-two at her, and sent up our black flag at the main. That rather provoked Mr. Bull, the shot happening to hit him ; and he let drive at us the whole of his larboard battery, hauled close on the wind on the larboard tack, and, as quick as thought was under all sail. His shot did us no FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 3& essential harm, and giving him our starboard battery in return, we changed our course from west to southwest, crowded everything and ran across his fore-foot unhurt. He instantly up-helm and gave chase, and the breeze being a stiff one, we were both off at a fine rate. For two hours he lost considerably, but about sunset it began to breeze up and threaten a gale. " Now, Captain Seymour," said I, " you understand we shall catch a gale of wind shortly, and tke English being the heaviest, will catch us." " Don't chuckle too soon, Lieutenat Garnet," he replied, " we'll escape this fellow easy enough-." " That remains to be seen," was my brief rejoinder, as I squinted to windward. The wind now increased rapidly so much so, indeed, that at eight bells in the second dog-watch, we were obliged to take in all our studdin'-sails but the Englishman kept his fast, and, although eight or nine miles astern, evidently gained on us. Seymour, however, was not at all disturbed, but gave orders and cracked jokes as cheerfully as ever. With the gale, clouds came on, and it grew quite dark ; not so much so, however, as to prevent our seeing each other, while we cracked on, shortening sail only when abso lutely necessary, as the English gained upon us slowly, but surely. ^bout midnight, Seymour, who had been coolly walking about the poop, suddenly stopped, and after thinking a moment, ordered a reefer to call the master. " Mr. Quadrant," said Seymour, as soon as he came upon deck, "work up your reckoning, and tell me where we are now, and bear a hand about it." Quadrant dived, and in an instant returning, said : " By dead reckoning, sir, we are now in latitude 208 25 N., longitude 289 12 W., standing west-by-south." 40 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, " Bring me the chart," said Seymour. It was brought, and after studying it a moment, he threw it by, and said to me: "Mr. Garnet, we are not far from Martin Yas and Trini dad. Take your post, sir, on the to'-gallant forecastle, and keep a bright look-out ahead. If you see anything or think you see anything, sing out to the wheel, and men whom I shall station along the gangway will pass the word." I took my place, accordingly, and "gazed into dim futu rity." Martin Yas and Trinidad are two small islands in the South Atlantic, not far from the coast of Brazil, which rise precipitously from the sea to the height of three or four hundred feet, nearly or totally inaccessible. They are both quite small the larger not exceeding fire hundred yards across and this fact, added to their abrupt sides, has entirely preserved them from the 'polluting tread. of man. Here, in the solemn solitudes of the ocean, they silently sit, uninhabited and alone. Ages upon ages have rolled over them, and they are still the same as on that day when the morning stars sang together, and the sons of God shouted for joy in view of the fair handiwork of the Almighty. The ocean, lashed into fury by ten thousand tempests, has dashed against their rocky bulwarks in impotent wrath for they stand "steadfast and sure :" far removed from the noise and turmoil of man, clothed in quietness, they slum ber on, lulled by the murmurs of the deep. Confident in their rocky foundations, they laugh at the roar of the storms. Though the waters of the troubled sea chafe their sides, their summits are visited only by the pure radiance ot the luminaries of heaven. The water does not shoal as you approach them, and being composed of dark rock, there is nothing about them to warn the careless mariner of his danger. Hence our unusual caution. FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 41 " How far astern are the English now ?" I inquired, about four bells in the mid-watch. The man passed aft, and returning, said "About a mile, sir." As the wind now blew a gale, this was as I expected and shrugging my shoulders at the prospect astern, I turned my attention to the prospects ahead. It had become quite dark ; I could scarcely see at all, and was about to relin quish my look-out as useless, when I saw ahead the dim outline of an object resembling a large ship before the wind. "Mr. Jones,' 7 said I to a reefer near me, "go aft, sir, and report to Captain Seymour a sail right ahead, and be quiet about it." Seymour came forward, and after looking a moment, said : " Mr. Garnet, that is not a sail ; it is the bluff which rises from the sea half-way between Martin Yas and Trini dad. It is nearly two hundred feet in height, entirely precipitous on every side, not more than a hundred feet in diameter at the base, and slightly conical. That is what you suppose to be a ship, and in the dark it might readily be mistaken for one ; and, if we manoeuvre rightly, it will insure our escape, and put a stop to our pursuers." He then proceeded to give me my orders, and returned to his station upon the poop. " Starboard a little 1" was my first hail to the wheel. It was obeyed, and produced just enough alteration in our course to bring the bluff one point on our starboard-bow, which, wishing to screen it from the view of the English, was just what was wanted. When very near the island- distant, say, two hundred yards, just as I had repeated my order to the wheel the English frigate, being only a quar ter of a mile astern, fell off a point or two from the wind, and a thirty-two pound shot, from her bow-chaser, carried away our main-topmast. This accident, apparently so dis astrous, was our salvation. 42 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, " Starboard a little/ 7 I repeated. We were now about a ship's length from the island, and the English not more than three or four astern. At this instant they fired at us again. The shot raked us fore and aft, but it was their destruction. Their vision was obscured by its smoke, which caused them to mistake the island for us, and a loud voice from the Englishman's forecastle, which we knew to be that of her first-lieutenant, hailed : " Port the helm ! We'll run her down !" We slipped past the pillar-island so closely, that our star board main-yard-arm grazed its precipitous side, and the next instant the Englishman's flying-jib-boom, jib-boom and bowsprit successively struck, against the immovable rock, and were driven in upon the hull by the violence of the col lision. A moment more, and the hull itself dashed against the fatal barrier, crushing her bulwarks and making a fear ful breach for the entering waves. A frigate, however, is too substantial a craft to be destroyed by, perhaps, any one blow that she can receive ; and, in this instance, the strength of her bows sufficed to resist instantaneous de struction. She recoiled, accordingly, a few fathoms, and her first-lieutenant, in terror, shouted : " Starboard-the-helm ! hard-a-starboard 1" It was too late I Recovering from the recoil of the first shock, the frigate struck again so violently, that her bow was totally demolished. Meanwhile we had hove to, and now could hear the water rush into our antagonist with a roar, which plainly showed that her last hour was come. She rolled heavily to windward once, and then went down ; and her crew heard, amid the roar of the tempest, the cheers which Seymour, with his usual cold-blooded ferocity, ordered our crew to give them, sounding in their ears like the laugh of the fiends of hell ! FCN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 43 CHAPTER III. THE gale had now abated, and we, having repaired dam ages, and rigged new spars aloft, crowded all sail for the west'ard and south'ard, and at noon of the fourth day, with Spanish colors at the peak, we entered the harbor of Rio Janeiro. As we neared the anchorage of men-of-war, I observed among them the United States frigate Constellation, (the one with which we had a brush in leaving New-York,) and perceiving, as we approached, that her quarter-deck was crowded with officers, Seymour altered our course so as to pass across her stern as we were now in a neutral port, and had nothing to fear from her. Commodore Montague was standing upon the signal-locker, and as we passed under her stern, Seymour, pointing to the slaves who were lying about our decks, hailed him with : " Friend Montague, I'll pick out a dozen of the prettiest, and send them aboard of you, shortly, for your own pecu liar." It was beneath the dignity of a Captain of the United States Navy to bandy defiances, or deal in blackguardism, with a slaver and, accordingly, Montague pretended not to hear what Seymour said but the blood mounting in his face, showed plainly that the taunt was heard, and felt. To carry out his system of bravado, Seymour ordered to let go the anchor, about three hundred yards from the Constella tion, and veering away cable, we lay precisely parallel to her, broadside to broadside. The weather now being aw fully hot, we were of course desirous to land our slaves as quickly as possible, and having made the necessary arrange ments with the authorities of the port, we commenced dis charging cargo at four P.M., and used such dispatch, that 44 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, before seven that evening, not one remained on board. This operation being completed, Seymour turned his attention to his small warfare with the Constellation, and mustering our band a strong one by the way upon the poop, he saluted Montague's ears with "Hail Columbia" and "Yankee Doo dle" and when eight-bells came, it was "made" in true man-o'-war style two eighteen-pounders, and a full band, announcing to all in port in general, and the Constellation in particular, that our watch was set. The next morning, about ten o'clock, having performed my usual duties, I went down into the ward-room, and shortly reappeared on deck in the same dress I wore the day we left New York. "What now, Mr. Garnet?" said Seymour, in surprise, as J walked aft upon the poop. " I come, sir, to request a boat," I replied. " As first lieutenant of this vessel, sir," answered Sey mour, still more surprised, "you need not ask that as a favor. It is your right." " I hold rank here no longer, sir," said I ; "I was kid napped by you, and have participated in your infamous atrocities thus long, only because I have had no opportunity to leave you. While you were in danger and difficulty, 1 scorned to quit you : it would have seemed like fear, to which I am a stranger. But now, assuring you that a vilei scoundrel than yourself never crossed my hawse, I inform you that I am about to surrender, myself to Commodore Montague aboard the Constellation." " My respects and a pleasant voyage to you, sir," said Seymour for he saw it was useless to remonstrate, and his pride was mortally piqued at my unexpected personal denun ciation " boatswain's-mate, call away the first-cutter. I hope, sir, you will do me the favor to take your pay, due FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 45 for services rendered. Sam, (to his steward,) bring me a bag of guineas." Not being disposed to prolong the interview, or accept his offer, I walked to the starboard gangway without reply, and entering the first-cutter, pulled for the Constellation. The moment I reached her deck, I ordered the boat to shove off and return to the brig, and then walked aft to meet the commodore. I proceeded at once to detail my adventures, so far as was necessary to explain my appearance in his vessel, and con cluded by surrendering myself a prisoner. He heard me through, patiently and courteously, and then, pursuing his own investigation, inquired the particulars of Seymour's conduct and cruise. When I had finished a brief sketch of the same, he abruptly asked if all her slaves were then ashore, and all hands, and Seymour, aboard. I told him chey were. "Mr. Roberts," said he, to his fourth lieutenant, "take ten men, and board the ship which has just anchored be tween us and the slaver : she has a long range of cable out : oresent my respects to her commander, and request him to heave-short ; assist him with your men, and remain on board of her till recalled. Mr. Thompson, (first lieutenant,) clear away and man the starboard-battery load with round, grape and cannister, and order the gunner to open the magazine, and stand by to pass up powder." By the time these orders were obeyed, the merchantman had hove-short, and the brig lay exposed to view. " Take good aim, my lads," said Montague, "at the slaver. All ready. Fire !" At the word, the whole of the Constellation's starboard broadside was poured into the brig, tearing open her bul warks, and dismounting her guns. For five minutes, the 46 SWELL LIFE AT SEA, ETC. frigate continued a most terrible battery, and Montague then perceiving that the brig was a total wreck, ceased firing, and ordered the boats to be. manned to board her. As the men were jumping into the boats, I observed that the brig was evidently beginning to sink, and was commu nicating that fact to an officer near me, when an explosion, louder than thunder, rent the heavens, and the slaver, blown into ten thousand fragments, flew into the air. For an in stant, there was a dead silence, which was followed by the falling of the shattered masts, spars and planks of the brig, mingled with the dead bodies of her men. And thus, as it ought, ends the " CRUISE OF A GUINEAMAN." FITZ-GTJB1N, OR, THE ADMIRAL'S PET. BY THE AUTHOR OF "SINGLETON FOXTENOY," ETC. CHAPTER I . WHEN Mogglestonleugh got the Thunderbolt, (for col lecting evidence on the continent about Lady , which proved highly serviceable in the divorce case, ) his first youngster was Lord Alfred Fitz-Gubin. The Thunderbolt was flag-ship on the South American station. They ex cused Fitz-G. from the mizen-top because he was young, and from night watch because he was delicate, and from boat duty because there were other youngsters to attend to the jolly boat without troubling him. The assistant surgeon reported him ill at Lisbon, and the surgeon recommended a week at Cintra for him. The minister had a party to meet him. The chaplain gave him a Bible, the "gift of his well-wisher, the Rev. T. Jenks," as the fly-leaf proclaimed. Fellows in the mess wrote home to " Dear papa," " We have a pleasant set of messmates here ; young Lord Alfred Fitz-Gubin is one of my most intimate friends among them." Smoggbuckle overdid his share of it, for he lent him fifty pounds, which was soon after returned by his mother (through the captain) in a letter, in which Smoggbuckle 48 SWELL-LIFE AT SEA; OR, was called a "designing person." When he shot a bull belonging to the beef contractor, the captain blew up the beef contractor, and paid for the bull. Lord Alfred walked upon velvet through the service. The Thunderbolt being paid off, the Admiralty delibe rated as to what was the best ship and sent him to China, because they foresaw active service there, and wished to give him a chance of distinguishing himself. He showed such gallantry (against a junk with a wooden gun in it) that Captain Tournspit felt it his duty (indeed, could not have rested in his bed quietly had he neglected it) to men tion him with praise in a despatch. The Chinese War becoming a mere bore, in due time Lord Alfred came home, (by the overland route,) and soon after " passed" for lieu tenant, and went out to the Mediterranean. This was con venient, for some relations of the family were going to yacht there. The yacht Giselle was in preparation for an august party at the tfrne Fitz-Gubin sailed in the Cocytus to Malta. They arrived there at a period which naval men will remem ber as that when Roribel became flag-lieutenant. A sketchy paragraph on RoribePs reception of the news o"f the vacancy may not be amiss. " It requires," said he, "a particular class of man to be flag-lieutenant. He should be gentle manly, (here he looked at his boots;) handsome, (here he pulled up his shirt-collar;) of good abilities, (here he smiled with self-complacency;) and generally popular !" (here he bowed and rubbed his hands, as much as to say, " Now you have him I") Roribel was made flag-lieutenant, vice Maun- derson, who had taken advantage of the position to make up to a great wine-merchant's daughter, (whom the wags of the squadron had christened the Countess of Bucellas,) and had retired from the service into matrimony, accord ingly. The Cocytus broke dc wn off Pantellaria ; why, nobody FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. Beems ever to have found out. As there was scarcely any wincl, she was iii an awkward plight. She signalled to the old Bloater, Mrs. Pappleton commanding, (such was Adair's joke, though the newspapers never so described the corvette, to my knowledge.) The Bloater was jogging along as usual, returning to Malta from a cruise, and For. bessy was in charge of the morning watch. He at once proceeded to the cabin to report the event to Pappleton, who left the society of youth and beauty (this was the phrase of the gallant and polished Mules, the clerk ; I must tell you he meant Mrs. P., which you would never have guessed) at the stern call of duty in fact, came on deck to see what was the matter. A boat, of course, had to be sent to the Cocytus, and Forbessy went in her to the steamer. A ladder was lowered as he came alongside. He found Captain Hostibus storming and raging about the deck, and all the engineers under arrest ; out of which, however, they were constantly called, every now and then, to see if no thing could be done. Forbessy was walking about the deck, waiting the return of Hostibus from another visit to the engine-room, when he heard a low, languid voice a voice of blended effeminacy and indifference, saying " Pro voking ! and before breakfast, too ! very irritating to our friend Hostibus, all this must be. Confounded engineering fellows !" Forbessy turned, and saw the speaker before him a long youth, with light hair, and big, watery blue eyes, whose dress bespoke him naval, though it was by no means punc tiliously fashioned after the regulations. He looked at Forbessy, and said, lazily, "You are from the corvette, I suppose ?" " I am.' ; "By Jove ! I hardly see my way. I suppose Hostibui 3 50 SWELL LIFE AT SEA ; OR, mast do something, or you do something for Hostibus. But I was thinking let me see yours is a rather large boat ? ... I have it." Here Hostibus re-appeared, and came aft. " Nothing for it the corvette must send her pinnace on to Malta, and ask for a steamer for us ! She must take on the mails, too." The youth spoke again. " But, Capt. Hostibus, couldn't she (the captain paused for the suggestion or advice) .... couldn't she ... so very slow, this couldn't she take me in ?" " Lord Alfred Fitz-Gubin," said Hostibus, " the service must be attended to !" Hostibus turned on his heel. This was the first glimpse Forbessy ever got of Lord Fitz-Gubin. It was characteristic. It would not be too much to say, that it exhibited his naval views altogether. He had been so dandled and pampered during his career, that he expected obstacles to fly before him like strag glers out of the path of a Roman Consul. They say that when the " Lotos" was lost by the genius of Mooner, Lord Alfred thought his chest the paramount object to be saved. We will not trouble ourselves further with the Coeytus, except to say that, by dint of a fair wind, she reached Malta in safety. Next morning after her arrival, a gun- case made its appearance on board the flag-ship, followed by a couple of pointers. Sensation in the Sovereign ! These were succeeded by a chest of more than ordinary dimen sions. Increased curiosity ! A fishing rod and beautiful dressing-case next arrived. (" This is a gentleman !" ex claimed Cuckles, with decision.) But what was the feeling when an object came which was almost immediately recog nised as a tent ? ("A person of consideration," exclaimed Cuckles.) Lord Fitz-Gubin himself reported his "joining" to Commander Mutter, in the course of tho day. The com- FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 51 mander, one of the serious school, (who are often of the most aristocratic principles looking on "dignities" as parts of the "great scheme/' and truckling accordingly,) received him with empressement, and introduced him to Cuckles. Cuckles deliberated as to who were the most eligible men in their mess whom he could form a little " set" out of, for his " noble friend." In the Sovereign, as in most large messes of any preten sions, there is a " red-book" section of men, who, somehow or other, fancy themselves, or make themselves, or are tacitly allowed to be, what our old friend Jenkins would call the creme. It is the same in provincial towns, and in fact in every sphere where a moderate number of people live together. But it is by no means easy to say how the arrangement takes place, or distinctly to point out what the laws are which divide the sets, or form the upper set. As scientific men are not agreed how fairy rings are pro duced, (though I believe it is certain that toad-stools and such fungi have something to do with it,) so "circles" of society are as difficult to account for; whatever, too, we may allow to the "fungus" influence in their case 1 It is not only birth, or only money, or only brains, or only man ners ; these are all powers in their way, but any one of them will sometimes make a hit, and I have known hits made by people who possessed none of them. Generally, the blending of various advantages in moderate proportions is the staple of success, and the having a pursuit in com mon, the great bond of union. Cuckles then, who was upper-deck-mate of the Sovereign who had in that posi tion the Commander's ear, and was, so far, of consequence who further was a senior mate, and a very shrewd, worldly person, was one of the swell clique of the Sovereign ; Tom Kiddel, with the largest income in the mess, and a free, daring way about him, was another ; Siddlington again, by 52 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, dint of great respectability and careful manners, and an orthodox way of looking at everything, was a third. These and others gave the tone to the mess, which was a sumptu ous and stately establishment, beyond the dreams of Ben- bow. About one in the day, a knot of fellows were usually to be found in a main-deck cabin, which one of the lieuten ants allowed to be made a lounging-place of. The Sove reign at this time lay habitually in Malta, more like an im movable castle in the harbor there stately, and utterly calm than a ship. The captain, of course, lived on shore ; you might see him any day, trudging along Strada Treale, as his children were dragged down the street in a pony chaise, by his side. As for the Admiral, he was seldom seen, though perhaps oftener heard of than people wished. To the cabin in question, supplied with a comfortable sofa and chairs, and adorned with a picture of a brigand and his daughter, Cuckles led Fitz-Gubin. The knot were there, consuming ices brought on board by an old French man daily, about whom the legend went that he came to Malta originally as the son of a noble, banished by the Revolution. Fitz-Gr. was duly introduced, and found the conversation busy with the old topics the Admiral, the Captain, the Sovereign, the Court-martial on P , (not held really be cause he neglected so-and-so, you know, but because he jilted old Froggan's niece.) A new anecdote of Mr. Adair was added to the day's stock by Tawney, who dropped down, after copying an "order," to have a chat. It seems that, after Mr. Adair left the Bloater, for the Preposterous, ("where," said Tawney, "Kicks swears he'll finish him,' 7 ) he was crossing the harbor in one of the cutters, when who should pass but Mrs. Pappleton in her husband's gig. Mr. Adair made the crew of his boat toss their oars, as to a Captain an audacious professional jest indeed ! FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 53 Lord Alfred Fitz-Gubin, our new messmate ; Mr. Rid- .tei, Mr. Siddlington," said Cackles. ' 4 .Seen in the Mediterranean before, Lord Fitz-Gubin ?" asked Siddlington. "No. Fve come out here to look about me a little now, though. I was in China ; I was in South America." He said this languidly, as usual, and then paused, as if he had ceased to take any interest in the subject. Have you ever seen a sluggish compass? (But of course, if a naval man, you have.) The quartermaster must jerk it with the string to keep its mystic force alive and active. Fitz-Gubin often seemed to resemble it. Old Polonai came in with some ices. "Good morning, old Polonai," said Riddel, (one of your sanguineous-looking fellows, close-cropped, red up to the ears, bare-necked, and bursting with animal spirits.) "Good morn, Signer Riddel," said the old man, with a meek smile. " Glace je faia, On ne me paye, Je suis le Sire de Polonai !" said Riddel, jumping up from his sofa to seize his ice. "That's rather good," said Lord Alfred, looking at Rid del. "Oh, I made that, some mornings ago about Polonai. 'Gad, he's descended from the Coucys, for aught I know. I say, Polonai, pick up the spoon, like a good fellow 1" The old man stooped, as he was bid, and gave the spo<" a to Riddel. (Have you ever wondered, reader, what sort of fellow- you would have been, by this time, if you had been turned adrift at eight years of age ?) " I'll take an ice," said Fitz-Gubin. The "ancient French man brought his tub to the cabin-door to supply him 54 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, Polonai, junior, (for our friend had married a Maltese in due time, and was now naturalized as a Maltese, almost though he occasionally disappeared frem the island ' to France," people said) a handsome boy with those in tensely black eyes which the Maltese have carried it for las father. "Well, younker," began Riddel, who had "chaff" ready for all comers " you're the rising hope of the Polonai family, eh ?" " Yes, Signor," said the boy. "But, by the toe of St. Peter where did you get that cap worked for you ?" "That, Signor," the youngster answered, with some re serve, " was my sister's making/' Old Polonai spoke to his boy in Maltese and he went away. The gentlemen of the cabin looked at each other. Polonai looked up, with his meek smile and subdued manner " Anything more to-day?" The world had by long passing him through its hands, and rubbing him to and fro smoothened and flattened him like an out-worn sixpence ; all the stamp and impress was gone. The world treats unlucky fellows like one of those defaced sixpences one sometimes comes across. They pass, to be sure, (for what little they exchange for,) but you can see that they have everywhere had the ill-luck to be suspected bit pinched blackened all along. " I think no more, to-day. And, Polonai, I owe you something, and here it is," said Riddel, producing a dollar or two. " Thank you, Signor." " And, Polonai but no no matter 1 Good day, Mon sieur de Polonai." With his meek smile and subdued way, the old French man shambled off. FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 55 " I suppose it's a joke about that old fellow being a noble ?" said Fitz-Gubin. " 'Gad, I don't know," said Riddel. " I heard so half-a- dozen years ago, when I was here iii the Burrampooter." " Must be a mere joke/' said Cuckles, shaking his head. " I'm not so sure of that," said Siddlington. " I remem- oer Campbell of the Violet used to say that he had read something about the Polonais, and that he thought it very likely and I know, he said it was a great shame, fellows chaffing the old boy." " Well," said Riddel, " I really begin to feel an interest in old Polonai 1"- 11 That's capital, upon my word/' broke in Corbieton, a, mate. " Ever since the s in told you that his cap was worked by " " Did you ever hear such a confounded, suspicious, evilly- disposed animal as that Corbieton ?" said Riddel. " I really wonder," said Siddlington, " if there's a 'blood' look about the girl ?" Fitz-Gubin pulled out his watch. " Do you know, gen tlemen I should be greatly obliged, if some of you would come on shore with mo, and show me the town : I know nothing of Malta." Curiously enough, Riddel had been thinking of going on shore, and so had Corbieton, and so had everybody, I dare say, that singularly fine afternoon 1 So they descended to the gun-room, and Fitz-Gubin made the acquaintance of the most brilliant of modern messes. I fear that we shall never attain the art of (what I define to be the true ideal of fitting up a naval mess-room) divest ing the apartment of all appearance of being part of a ship ! We may aim, indeed, at it ; we may smother the lockers in sumptuous cushions ; we may hide the deck with the most 56 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, glittering oil-cloth ; we may erect neat book-shelves, and luxuriate in French varnish ; and throw around the stern- posts the magic of violet curtains ; it is in our power to adorn the tiller, and to make the thirty-two pounders ob jects of interesting beauty ; but this is all ! This all was better achieved in the Sovereign than art has ever achieved it elsewhere. The steward (who indeed'was now in his cabin, reading a new novel) justly felt that he occupied a position equal to that of the surgeon of a former age, and was reported to be paying his addresses to the daughter of a native officer of the Maltese Fencibles. When he heard, through iiis assistant, (who had it from his assistant,) that Lord Fitz-Gubin had joined, he expressed his approval ; intimated to the assistant that t he mess wanted some such ornament ; and yawned over the novel again, somewhat rid of the afternoon's ennui ! Lord Alfred intimated his approval of the gun-room in very decided terms to the polite Cuckles, who watched its effect upon him. " Really you have made all that could be made of the place, upon my word. We might, to be sure, make an im provement here !" Cuckles was all ears (as usual). "We might, mightn't we, remove the guns ?" * Riddel looked up to see if he was joking, but he was imperturbably solemn, and perfectly in earnest. Indeed, such was his usual mental complexion. He went through life, and the service, with the most entire good faith amus ing himself, indulging himself, eating, drinking, sleeping, and smoking, with a grave continuity of action and self- possession of manner (partly natural, but chiefly the result of his bringing up) which were wonderful to behold. " We might remove the tiller, I think," growled an old mate. " What does he say ?" whispered his lordship to Cucklea FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 57 " Oh ! never mind him, my lord old mate, of the name of Manton," whispered Cuckles as an interpreter might render to you the sayings of a Cherokee. In a little while the party were ready to go on shore. When they went on deck, Cuckles was there seeing the bitts blacked, and the paint washed the work which has to be done in Malta harbor, and which must be carefully done, too. As Riddel was at the side, calling a shore-boat, Fitz- Gubin, who by this time had acquired a wonderful knack of knowing the men liable to his influence and whom he generally contrived, in every ship, to win and use chatted very affably with Cuckles. " Mr. Cuckles had been very courteous ; would he might he, Fitz-G., hope he would just see about his hammock and hammock-man, and he supposed a good marine was unengaged but really he was ashamed." Cuckles, civil at every pore to rank the pet of the commander undertook everything, and discharged what he promised, like the faithful fellow he was. In the meantime, Mr. Riddel hailed the mess-boat, which you might have known anywhere by its flag bearing the mess- arms, (a donkey rampant,} and in it the party seated them selves. There was a scandalous report, by-the-by, about this time, that some youngsters had so destroyed the confi dence, which is the basis of all commercial credit, that you could not get a casual shore-boat without difficulty. But this was, probably like a rumor about Lieutenant Bulrush (commanding the Roarer, 10) and his caliche a mere idle invention one of that copious crop of rumors which every season at Malta brings forth. We cannot be expected to waste our time upon these ! We may now for, by the magic of fiction, we have landed our party in Mala ? s Cafe skipping past Strada St. Giovanni and its shops (I say skipping past its shops 58 SWELL LIFE AT SEA ; OR, and if you will put an evil construction upon our smartness in passing Darba's why you must !) consider Lord Alfred as having begun his naval career in the Mediterranean. For isn't the shore the predominant, the important scene of such career ? Whom do you dress to please in the Mediter ranean ? somebody on shore. Where did Riddel keep his pony ? Where did Siddlington buy his jewelry ? Where did Montemart display his waltzing ? ' This is pleasant enough/' said Fitz-Gubin, lounging in the cool halls of Mula. He paused. " I like Malta, I think. I think it's as well though, to be here, in a ship." 11 To be here, in a ship ?" Riddel repeated, somewhat puzzled. " Why, you know, you sleep out in the sea-air." " So you do," said Riddel, thoughtfully. " Gad, that's a new point in the profession." " I like the profession," said Lord Alfred Fitz-Gubin. I am not going, at this time, to take our friends into thoso circles of beauty and fascination, which waited Fitz-Gubin's pleasure. That the Admiral knows of his arrival and will probably produce something drinkable when he asks him to dinner an event to which the gallant officer's nieces, also, look with an interest of their own ; that other houses, with that regard for the peerage, which is a characteristic of the island, intend to show a proper attention to the "descend ant of an ancient family in Picardy," we may, of course, presume. But this evening, I ask your company to dinner in the Sovereign, and invoke the shade of Benbow to be present at the board ! Our party has returned to that stately line-of-battle ship, and twilight is wrapping itself round the white island twi light of a faint blue, through which the hulls and spars of the vessels in harbor rise dark and solemn. As it deepens, the bells of Yaletta are ringing, vexing the languid air with FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 59 their silver clang, clang, to the which answer the bells of Burmola, meeting them half-way on the harbor waters, and ringing a half-mournful melancholy note over the marriage of summer and sea. There is a momentary thrill of cool. ness that almost chills, as the breeze comes noiselessly from the outside ocean, and air, and waters, and bell-notes mingle together. Deepening yet, though the bells jingle as if they would fain frighten the darkness away. In the distance, a light glides across the harbor like a corpse-light gliding to show you where a funeral's path shall be. It is a boat, reader, taking Brown of the Ganges to dine with Smith of the Bustard. Let us leave the harbor alone. Have we not three hundred and sixty-four twilights to look at in the year, and are we not going to dinner ? The mess-dinner of the Sovereign is laid out. Some twenty-five fellows sit down. The steward (elaborately attired) bows as he sees Fitz-Gubin seat himself with the knot at the head of the table Riddel, Corbieton, Siddling- ton, &c. His satisfied eye welcomes the mild, familiar glass, of china, and silver, and the pleasant gleam of the huge decanters of iced wine. The dinner is the object of con stant admiration, and Cuckles daily jokes on its splendor, as compared with that which he supposes to be the habitual fare of the mess (except, of course, those of our degree) at home. (Pleasant Cuckles thou man of fine heart and fine taste !) The steward, with a profound bow, now hands to Lord Fitz-Gubin, the carte. I say distinctly, the carte. Shade of Lord Collingwood (to whose descendants in the female line, a grateful Government would not continue the title*) * And this though COLLINGWOOD, besides boasting such services, and such a mind and character as were his, was a man of distinguished family ! If we will plebeianize our peerage, let us, at least, cease to sneer at ou* plebeians. ED. 60 SWELL-LIFE AT SEA; OR, shade of Benbow, wag your ghostly pig-tail, and let us look at the items of the carte. (The cook of the Sovereign was a man of genius, and will probably die a baronet.) : "Cote- lettes d la Trafalgar ; Fricassee de Gibier en pigtail antique ; Vol au vent, au maintop ; Brimbousky marine, SfC., fyc." These were the leading features of the entertainment that day, with sufficient substantials, of course ; which, by-the- by, were highly necessary to the youngsters, who could not always, if we are to believe some people, get any of the finer specimens of the cuisine. Bung, the master's assistant, made a democratic agitation on the subject, by bawling to the servants after some of the " ong pigtail hontick," but the roar of laughter (which his pronunciation justly raised) soon caused him to subside into silence and boiled beef. What was worse, he never heard the last of the matter You don't, indeed, often hear the last of a joke in the ser vice, and many a fellow who has got himself a nickname in his first week, retains it for life, carries it over the whole globe, and through every grade of rank, and dies in it. Accordingly, the youngsters were perpetually at Bung "Bung, any hontick to-day ?" &c., &c. " Lord Alfred, a glass of wine," said Cuckles, ordering champagne ; a luxury in which, to do him justice, he did not often indulge. They drank. " I like the dinner," said Fitz-Gubin, with his usual delib eration. " The cook is really not bad. He ranks, of course, as a petty officer ?" Here, I think, I may close a chapter, and leave the reader to his meditations I FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 61 CHAPTER II. THE mere mention of the cockpit such as it once exist ed justly excites a fastidious sneer. The reading public has to be disabused of several notions about Her Majesty's navy. The blockheads who believe that a midshipman " shivers his timbers," are, of course, hopeless, and with them I decline to communicate. But a better informed class may still be ignorant, that on board the Sove reign, Brummell might have attired his person with all the care which it demanded. Again Fitz-Gubin expressed his satisfaction, when he found the comfortable and spacious place for his chest ; where a judicious array of curtains made up a cabin, and where his marine had prepared every thing for him. Cuckles, whose apparatus was not far off, was busy about the place, keeping the lavatory arrange ments of the youngsters withi n proper bounds. Siddlington, again, in a corner, was devoting to his whiskers that intense and absorbing attention which auburn whiskers demand. How different the leisure and space here, to the absurd dif ficulties of the Bloater, where the wretched Mules wore out his heart in endeavoring to keep up his appearance I The toilette hour in one of your big ships is always a lively one. How properly, in one sense, was the table where the many (for they could not all have curtains and seclusion) washed, called the amputation table ! How were reputations lopped, and dissected, and pruned, and trimmed, over those pewter basins I What pleasantries about Ricks, about the commander, the notabilities of Malta, and the news of the squadron ! What chuckles when Manton, the old mate, could not find his wig ! What roars when the DUN pene trated (which he had no business to do, for why the deuce did Jack Treloony, who had the morning watch, let him on 62 SWELL LIFE AT SEA ; OR, board?) to these haunts ! There was a laugh, indeed, when Saijan, when Nathan, or Darba came groping along among half-lashed-up hammocks. The Dun in your place like Malta, becomes quite naval. He knows when the Intolerable is going to get her orders ; that the Yiper is to be sent home, because she's overmasted ; he hears, as soon as the squad ron does, that Captain Ransacker has lost all that money at blind-hookey ; and he wonders, as everybody wonders, what the devil Ransacker will do this time. That laughter from the youngsters, when the Dun makes his morning call, is to the philosophic ear, a melancholy sound. What a number of us have joined in ib at sixteen, and sighed at it at six-and-twenty ! This association of humor with the serious events of life (as the apparition of the Dun eventually becomes) is very strange. We joke in youth about dunning, about matrimony, and about hanging, I believe, more than any other subjects. Yet, infallibly, the time comes when we pay we marry and if we don't hang, (as is to be hoped,) yet we think with seriousness on that catastrophe, and life generally. That morning, the prophetic eye, beholding Livingstone the youngster giving a huge order to Darba, might have seen through the vista of years a vision such as Livingstone would have shrunk from, could he, have foreseen it. Horace's Cura sticks not more closely than the fatality of the Dun Post equitem sedet. Here he is behind you on the hack you have hired, and on which you are trotting from Yaletta to Citta Yecchia or by-and-by, along the pleasant shores of Baiae, or the rocky brown hills of Greece, or the heath-lands of Troy, or the rich green fields of Smyrna. He mounts the " trireme," viz., the pinnace of the Bellerophon, which you command ; and the boat at Richmond wherein you pull, years after. When you are starring it, I say, in London, or shooting red-legs in Brittany, there is one fellow who knows your FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 63 movements as well as any of your family. It is DARBA of Strada Keale ! Awful thought ! He will write in time to your venerable parent, and request him to pay the inclosed bill "out of your son's patrimony" (suggestive Darba !) Something will ultimately have to be done about that man's bill. . . . But in the interim, here is Livingstone, young and downy-cheeked, light-hearted and light-tongued, giving Darba a large order. For a year, Darba will make no men tion of the matter, and Livingstone will spend his ready money in forgetfulness of the man whom he dimly intends to pay some day when (as it will turn out) neither his cheek nor his heart are as fresh and unworn as they are now. The age requires two treatises the philosophy of dissipation, and the philosophy of Duns ! The day began in the Sovereign with the crossing of the topgallant-yards* after which, the hammocks having been tortured into perfect smoothness of outline, a party of two were sent to potter about the dockyards, or elsewhere, and the huge vessel lay still as the waters which reflected her glowing copper, or her gleaming hull. Awnings spread and yards squared, she was as quiet as the island itself in the sea. You might lounge on the poop, and watch the bright green and yellow boats glitter across the harbor, like dragon- flies gaudy as lizards ; or the town almost misty with the intense sunshine, and fancy the days of the Order of St. John back again, and the Podgerses and Kodgerses still in their "chilly northern homes. A whole day, nothing would break your reverie, but the shrill pipe of the dinner-hour, when the fruit boats swarmed alongside, and when poor old Polonai the meek, with his boy and the ice-can, came sham bling over the ship's side, bowing to the officer of the watch modest before the sentry civil to everybody. Fitz-Gubin was loitering about the upper deck at noon, and had just thrust into his pocket the Admiral's invitation 64 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, to dinner, (that morning arrived,) as the veteran Polonai came on board. Fitz-Gubin gave a little hasty glance round the deck ; Cackles was away ; his messmates of the watch were far aft on the poop, sitting (there is no good denying it) in perfect idleness on the spanker-boom. Fitz-Gubin came up to the gangway. I have mentioned his solemn, determined manner. I have to add that concealment was a strong feature in the young gentleman's character. He rarely let anybody know what he had in his thoughts ; still less in his intentions. " Hee I Polonai. Glace." The old man was about to descend the main hatchway. He turned back. " Monsieur no take it in the cabin ?" " Non. No. Here, Polonai !" The veteran complied. It was a sight to see Fitz-Gubin leaning against the bitts, and with perfect deliberation, con suming the lemon-ice. He put some money in his hand, with the glass, and was turning away. "Mais, Monsieur, c?est too much," said old Polonai, eagerly; "you not have so much to pay as this, Monsieur." " Fitz-Gubin. Lord Fitz-Gubin Polonai ! . . . Never mind, Polonai. Quelque jour, je vous ferai une visite, peut- etre, et done." "Milor Fitz-Gubin. Prenez le money, if you please !" And the old fellow, with many bows, and a slight color over his withered old face, forced it upon him. Fitz-Gubin walked aft in meditation. Riddel and one or two of the men had just come up the companion-ladder. "I say, Lord Fitz-Gubin, we've been wondering what's become of old Polonai to-day ?" "Have you? Why, J saw him a little ago knocking about," said the youth. " Fox, of the Queen, has seen his daughter ; so he said, FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 65 last night, at dinner. He swore she's an angel," Riddel observed. " Ah, well, perhaps she is. How hot the day is 1" said Lord Alfred Fitz-Gubin. Whereupon, Lord Alfred (who, bless you, could not be occupying his mind with the family of an itinerant vender of ices) edged away. A moment afterwards, he was in the cabin of the Commander, and asking leave to go on shore, " to dine with the Admiral." " I should not be likely to refuse you leave on general grounds," said the Commander, with a Christian smile, be coming a serious man ; "on the present special one I grant it with pleasure ! You will find that household, indeed, a charming one. Beauty, with genius and gentleness these are,. I say it on the authority of my personal observation, its characteristics.? And the Commander smiled, as if addressing the compli ment to the persons themselves as indeed he would have liked to have done, I dare say ; perhaps he thought some thing of the sort might reach them from him, through Fitz Gubin. To make matters still more agreeable to our friend, he gave him a seat in the cutter, then on the point of landing a parcel for Mrs. , his wife, under the charge of a mid shipman 1 The cutter was cushioned, gilt, varnished, and adorned with a tiller that would have been an ornament to a drawing-room table, at the cost of said midshipman, Leslie Clare, (lost last year, I observe, poor fellow, jumping after a negro who tumbled overboard, and would have caught cold, if an English gentleman had not risked himself, and so lost his life, in picking him up.) Leslie Clare was the only midshipman who had a successful contest with Cuckles. Cuckles had wished to send him in this cutter, which he commanded, and just after he had had the first touch put 66 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OB, to it, to bring the beef on board. Clare appealed to the Commander ; the Commander decided that the jolly-boat should go. He was a joyous youth ; his family were rich : all went well with him, till he met the ill-omened nigger, who proved the agent of his fate. You are not to suppose that Fitz-Gubin dressed himself in full fig before landing at this time. This would not have been becoming one so essentially a member of the "swell" naval world, with which we have at present to deal. He carried a carpet-bag. He patronized the Mitre Hotel. Riddel had his horse there. Siddlington put up at the Mediterranee. Corbieton preferred the Royal Princess's. As the boat landed, Lord Alfred turned to Clare, with whom he had scarcely exchanged a word, (he associated with none out of a clique in any ship,) "Will you allow one of the men to carry my carpet-bag to the Mitre, Mr. Clare ?' Clare was so surprised that he involuntarily said, " Yes." Fitz-Gubin bowed, and set off. The seaman followed ; and in due order they reached the house, where the obsequious landlord received his Lordship with all proper deference. Of course, Snacks had seen the appointment, which had been copied into a special paragraph by itself, in the Malta Dip., for the benefit of the aristocratic " sympathizers/' (to use a Yankeeism,) who are plentiful in Malta. Fitz-Gubin never long required aid in finding his way about a place. Already an introduction oc two put the threads in his hand. He knew the art which you may have observed, characterizes the knowing of the English great world, abroad the art of comporting himself in mixed society ; I don't mean, of course, the obvious art of behaving himself in company (which is within the range of an idiot and for ordinary purposes a common-place affair to anybody not decidedly cursed with the air bourgeois}- FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 67 but a higher art than that. I mean an art like that of the fellows who dive in the wreck of the Royal George, and who retain their self-composure, eye-sight, and individuality, among strange fish, monstrous timber, and mud. In a word, the art of mingling in society conventionally inferior to your own, (yet the only society of the place you are in,) without committing yourself to it in the slightest degree I Did the fashionable Poodle scouring the Mediterranean in 184 use up the services, the dinners, horses, evening parties (every thing that could keep his great soul from perishing in its own exhausted receiver of emptiness) pic-nics, of every society from the pillars of Hercules to the Golden Horn ? Yes. Did he form a tie of decent grateful friendship with one man or family ? When Brauton, junior, (of the Maltese firm,) was in town some time ago, (awakening Government to the importance of the Gozo traffic in Peas-pods,) did Poodle show him any attention ? No ! Yet, wherever you had met Poodle in the Mediterranean, you would have thought him domesticated in its circles. That was Poodle's art the merit of which is not to be denied to him. A similar art enabled our own Fitz-Gubin to play off Cuckles for his utility, another man or two for their sociability, and so on ; while he knew precisely the worth of each according to his ultimate standard of social appeal. Be wise, my good reader, in your generation, and remember to do with your Cuckleses, &c., as you would with foreign money : piastres are very useful in the East, drachmas in Greece, and dollars in Malta you are not expected to take them and pass them in England ! All this time the afternoon has been, of course, wearing away ; by half-past six, the Admiral's door began to give forth a series of thunderings, after each of which it rained in a visitor. Roribel, the flag-lieutenant, was an object of serene brilliance ; Sir Ajax Thorp, dignified ; Lady Thorp, 68 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, magnificent ; Captain and Mrs. Plimmer and Miss Plimmer, truly imposing. Of Fitz-Gubin's fresh, sumptuous, and languid appearance, I can only say this, that he looked (can you fancy so charming a figure ?) like Narcissus after a Turkish bath 1 " How do thoo do, Lord Fitth-Gubin ?. My nieces . How'th your father, Lord Fitth-Gubin ?" said the extremely aged Admiral, in his peculiar way. These established questions over, (and Lord Alfred, remember, though an aristocrat, was only a "mate,") the Admiral left him to make his way with the nieces. " How do thoo do, Mr. Clarendon ? How'th your father, Mithter Clarendon?" So was dismissed Mr. Clarendon, a lieutenant, cousin to the First Lord. And the Admiral, a minute afterwards, was wagging his old gray head, alongside Sir Ajax Thorp, in close confab. Roribel and Fitz-Gubin fraternized; they had known each other in South America, and Riddel Roribel was a swell. " Who are we waiting for ?" asked Fitz-Gubin, in a quiet corner with Roribel. He told him. " I wish he'd come." " So do I. By Jove, Sir ! we are to tap some of the good claret, to-day," said Roribel, in an impressive tone. "You know our excellent friend is considered rather a screw. In fact, between ourselves, there was no keeping up the entente cordiale over the stuff he used to produce here ! 'Gad, the services could not act in harmony ; and the Island was falling into anarchy. They say Ricks gave him a hint 1" "The deuce !" said Fitz-Gubin. The laggard having arrived, Fitz-Gubin moved in his order, with Miss Plimmer, to dinner ; and found himself FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 69 between that young lady and the Admiral's youngest niece. Miss Plimmer, knowing that Fitz-G. was a lord, kindly overlooked the fact that he was only a mate. In ordinary cases (papa being a captain, yon know) she could not^have been expected to take much notice of anybody under a lieu tenant. As a lover of discipline, I cannot but admire the discipline which in these places arranges such matters. It would puzzle Garter King of Arms (an official for whom I have an unaffected respect) to discriminate and arrange precedence in some societies I have known. A captain is a captain we know, (and a very strange gentleman he is, sometimes,) and that Mrs. Captain Plimmer should take the lead of Mrs. Lieutenant Jenks, is natural enough ; but what if Mrs. Jenks' father the alderman be a knight ? Is the youngest daughter of a captain in command superior to the eldest daughter .of a captain on half-pay ? Again, a midshipman is nobody, we know ; but what if he is the only son of a man with five thousand a-year ? Would Rosa Plimmer have made an exception in his favor in such a case ? It may be so. Rosa was pretty affable now ; for the third year of the commission of the Unsaleable was now wearing away ; and in a few months Captain Plimmer and his family must retire into private life. It is, indeed, a touching sight to see one of those veterans, whose eye, the other day, carried terror in every glance, moving about a seaport town, in a blue overcoat a merely private man; they linger in these towns, I think, as a mourner lingers by a churchyard, musing over the memory of defunct power meditating on the glory of past greatness. The ladies departed. "Lord Fitth-Gubin, I hope thoo like the Sovereign; Mithter Clarendon, I thrust thoo are comfortable in the Spitfire ?" 70 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, The duties of hospitality being so far performed to these gentlemen, and the "good claret" set moving, the conver sation of the evening went on with its usual decorum on such,state occasions taking the initiative from the Admi ral, and Sir Ajax Thorp and moving (like a state elephant at an Indian festival) in a heavy manner about. Naval news was said little of indeed, naval talk about that period was half ma.de up of growls about the Admiral himself (which you could scarcely expect to hear at his own table) ; politics were, of course, tabooed ; and, finally, you could only wonder, as Fitz-Gubin mentally did, what the dinners were like on the " lad-claret days." In the drawing-room, where, in due time, (but not before Fitz-Gubin's light, delicate complexion testified, by a tinge of faint color, to the "sanitary reform" which had been lately made in the Admiral's dinner arrangements,) they adjourned, Fitz-Gubin found the ladies talking about " con version " the conversion of the Maltese. " Can you convert a Maltese ?" asked Fitz-Gubin. " Why," said the eldest Miss Wyoming, smiling, " we have not had much success, hitherto. A system which so weds itself to the imagination of the devotees, you know attracting through the senses, as our minister in St. Kilder kin Mr. Fatten says having no such attractions to offer " " No attractions about Mr. Fatten, you mean, Miss Wyoming," said the genial Roribel, smiling. " Mr. Roribel is a wit, you know, Lord Fitz-Gubin, and we must excuse him. But you understand me, the absence of all that splendid ornament " " Those heavenly little crosses," said Miss Plimmer. " I declare the altar at St. John's you might fancy it was an emperor's side-board." "We know whom it is but too calculated to please, dea* FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 71 Einma, as Mr. Fatten says," went on Miss Wyoming mys teriously. " But I do feel an enthusiastic wish to save to win one, beautiful lamb to the true fold. I should like, shouldn't you, Mary, to convert little Marie Polonai ?" "Little Marie Polonai," replied Fitz-Gubin, mechani cally. " Marie Polonai ; do you know the name ?" " I know there is one Polonai, an old man, who sells ices to the mess. At least, I think that's the name." " The same man," Miss Wyoming went on, warmed by her own eloquence ; " they live in a little house in the Strada St. Orsola, with a green gate." ("A little house in the Strada St. Orsola, with a green gate," mentally repeated Lord Alfred.) "And a kind of court-yard, where there is an orange- tree." ("A kind of court-yard, where there is an orange-tree," continued mentally Fitz-G.) "There is a dried-up fountain, with broken sides so romantic." ("A dried-up fountain," his lordship went on.) " Lord Fitth-Goobin, I with you a good night. Mithter Clarendon, I with you a good evening." So saying, the Admiral, whose load of years made it require no apology for him to withdraw early, toddled off to bed. Not long after, the party broke up. The girls were quite pleased with the interest Fitz-Gubin had shown in their talk. A hint about a pic-nic to Bosketto had been thrown out, and joyfully hailed. " A very pleasing face," said Miss Wyoming to her sister, as they were going to bed. " Quite the look of the old blood, my dear." " Quite, indeed," was the innocent reply. It was a lovely night, of the whitest moonlight, as Fitz 72 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, Gubin strolled away. Here and there he caught a glimpse, through a street, of the sea, which was ali alive with light. The air was cool, yet there was scarcely wind enough to disturb the blossoms on an almond tree. Need I say, that in Mula's Cafe, whose hospitable door was open to the night, there was a large party of naval men ? Fitz-Gubin strolled in, bent on the cooling lemon ade ; and found the usual smoking, supping, refreshment, and conversation going on. " Yes, sir, Smithett will get the vacancy. You'll see," laid a mate. " Vacancy V whispered a midshipman to my friend, Pug Welby, " he's always running on vacancies, that Moggies." "Yes," said Pug, "he has always a vacancy in hia head P Fitz-Gubin sat down at one of the little marble tables by himself, and lolled in tranquil meditation. He felt the lemonade thrill him with a pleasant coolness, and there was present to his mind's eye a little house in the Strada St. Orsola, with a green gate, and a kind of court-yard, with an orange-tree in it. I could tell you stories about Fitz-Gubin's South Ameri can adventures (only they have nothing to do with our present scenes), which would show you that it was no wonder that he sallied forth after finishing his lemonade on the present occasion. In his most indifferent manner, he inquired for Strada St. Orsola, of the waiter of the hotel where he changed his clothes. It was not long before he found himself in a narrow and steep, hilly street, of which many of the houses were high, but lank and meagre-looking. Nothing was stirring ; his own shadow in the moonlight was all he saw, as he walked quietly along, keeping close on one side. Sleep soundly, old Polonai ! Come out and look at the moonlight, young Marie ! FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 73 Fitz-Gubin presently paused, and reconnoitred. "Tall houses," he thinks ; " high windows." But a friendly bottle with the boatswain, and a few dollars to some forecastle men and a Jacob's ladder would be made which would dangle as lightly as a cobweb from the highest window in Malta 1 A Jacob's ladder, whereon evil figures (unlike those of the dream of the patriarch) might ascend and descend ; know we not such objects ? thinks Fitz-Gubin. The boat swain of the "Coromandel" might have told you stories about Jacob's ladders. They say, Harry Bulstrode was all but caught with one at a lofty enough window (in all senses), somewhere in the Mediterranean j and that the Admiralty promoted him out of the way. But it was not a tall window, nor a high house this, as our hero almost immediately found. Jt lay back from the street, inside this kind of a court-yard ; and here is the adventurer at the gate. Looking in, he sees a figure with its back towards him sitting, leaning over the dried-up fountain. The house itself was all dark. With the gentlest of movements Fitz-Gubin moved the gate, and entered the court-yard, with a beating heart. The figure instantly started ; back flew a mantilla, and the moonlight fell in a douche on one of the prettiest faces one of the sweetest girl's faces he had ever seen. " Hush/' said the youth, " I am ill. I am fainting. I come to ask you for a glass of water." Putting his hand on his heart, he knelt, and lay on his side on the grass. The girl's face showed that she believed him, and she went inside and brought a cup. As she stooped to put it to his lips, the whole beauty of her face and neck a neck that the sun had not been allowed to spoil, and beside which you would have thought pearls vulgar revealed itself to him. Darter eyes fuller of 4 74 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, sweetness and light never held truth in the bottom <>f their deep wells.* " I am better ; thank you, in the name of the Blessed Lady," said our friend. (This apostasy he found service able in Catholic countries) "By what name shall I remember you ? " " My name is Marie." " Then, thank you, Marie. I am better and must go, Yon live here ?" " This is my father's." "I must be going. You have a pretty place here, Marie." " It is quiet, and we are quiet are you now well ?" in quired the girl. He rose. " Thanks to you, I am and I must go home. What a smell of flowers ! I must send you a jewel for your kindness, Marie." " Good night, Signer," said the girl, in a very serious manner. He bowed, and hurried away into the street. He strolled down it with a firm stride. There was a step behind him, and a Maltese voice eager and hoarse, said " Signer, where you been ?" He turned sharp round, and saw a young and brawny Maltese before him, who retreated a stride, and kept a black and glowing eye upon his face. "Where have I been, you infernal rascal of a smytch, what's that to you ?" " Curse you all I that's the way of you all, with your 'fernal ways and 'fernal tongues. By G d, a knife the only thing for you ! If I think you play your impudent tricks with Signora Marie, I put knife in you, by G d, Signer. * Verbatim from Forbessy's papers. ED. FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 75 You go make love to your English lady ; leave Maltese lady alone I" As Fitz-Gubin afterwards told his friends, the closing sentence of this "rascal's" speech was enough to make any body laugh: "You impudent scoundrel, take yourself off," he said. " I'll have you hanged, sir, if you talk to me 1" " You been see Signora Marie ?" " How dare you, sir ?" said Fitz-Gubin, sincerely indig nant at the fellow's impudence. " Antonio 1" cried the Maltese. A figure started behind Lord Alfred. He started, too, to meet it but a blow from behind fell with a heavy force upon his head, and he sank to the ground. Let us return to Mula's cafe. A man entered the cafe, late, whom some of the party there knew a man belonging to the Yixen. " Any of the Sovereign's fellows here ?" said he, moisten, ing a cigar in his mouth, very quietly, and sitting down. "Yes," answered Riddel. "Yes," answered Siddling- on. " Because," said he, " there's one of your fellows lying bleeding in a street near the Lascares. I advise you to look after him." " The devil there is !" said the two gentlemen, suddenly starting up. When Lord Fitz-Gubin came to himself, he found him self lying in his hammock, on board the Sovereign, with a wet cloth on his head. 7-6 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, CHAPTER II I Frrz-GuBiN's head (for reasons which I need not enlarge upon) did not suffer any permanent injury, or, indeed, any serious hurt on this unfortunate occasion. He was a little puzzled when he came to himself at first, and found a sen try near him, who immediately reported his recovery to the assistant-surgeon. That officer, MacStirk, was instantly at his side to see how the case was going on, and to administer a draught. Next morning Fitz-Gubiu was, of course, re ported in the sick list ; " Contusion a little fever quiet," said the surgeon. So the patient took up his abode in that cabin on the main-deck which we are already acquainted with decidedly pale and seedy, and with an awkward clot in his hair, testifying to the smartness of the tap on his skull, but not in any danger. Here he spent his time in bed all day, near the cool port-hole, and opposite the engrav ing of the brigand and his daughter an object of interest and sympathy to his friends. What had happened ? that was the question, as people justly remarked. ' He had been dining at the Admiral's : "Couldn't have had too much to drink there!" remarked Pug Welby, satirically, when he heard the story. " A row with the police," said others, as if that were a matter-of- course affair, which it ought not to be in a well-regulated squadron. " Fell from his horse," Cackles reported, appa rently by authority. The surgeon, no doubt, knew whether the contusion was such as a fall from a horse would cause. MacStirk, with his usual ignorance of the world, must needs blurt out, when the Commander put it carelessly to him and the Surgeon together (for Cuckles had been chatting with the Commander just before), "whether Lord Fitz-Gubin had hurt himself by a fall?" that it was "more of the FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 77 nature of a varra severe bruise, such as a maan with a 'rung He beg-ged pardon, he meant a stick ! " but the Surgeon cut this bore short, and left the Commander to take his own view of it. So the Commander did ; and a charming little narrative, investing the accident with the hues of imagination, reached the Admiral's house. Poor Lord Alfred had had a severe fall (these Maltese streets are notoriously dangerous to one unused to them), and the Misses Wyomings sent him works to read when convales cent, including tracts, which found their way to the gun room, and excited wonder and admiration there. The "Mariner Rescued" (2d) was one of these, and an effort was made to bring its influence to bear on Bung, the mas ter's assistant of course without any success by the midshipmen. But, indeed, there is no want of works calcu lated to awaken the nautical mind among those supplied by Government, if they are brought up from the hold a pre liminary which I have known to be neglected in some of Her Majesty's ships and vessels of war. It is to be supposed that Riddel and that set guessed more accurately than the multitude the nature of Fitz-Gubin's misfortune. Cuckles was with him the very next morning when he had moved into the main-deck cabin, and Fitz- Gubin then said, with a feeble voice, "You won't let me be disturbed, Cuckles ? Don't let us have the fellows eating ice, and joking that old French Maltese in here, like a good fellow !" Cuckles promised faithfully that he would see that nothing of the sort happened. In a few days, when he was better, and some of the set were sitting with him, be began to talk a little more freely of his accident. He " had met a girl, and, by Jove, he was talking to her " "Whereabouts?" asked Siddlington. " Oh, why, you know I don't know Yaletta well. But I had somewhere near the market, I fancy met her ; and IS SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, she had just gcme, when this confounded cad by Jove, 1 never read of such insolence must needs accost me : and what do you think he said ? ' Go make love to English lady ; leave Maltese lady alone !" Riddel and Siddlington roared with laughter, and the speech of the smytch was pronounced one of the most char acteristic lately produced by the island. Eitz-Gubin leaned back, and grinned at the reminiscence. "I was so taken aback by the extraordinary insolence of the fellow," he con tinued, " that I did not notice a man who must have been lurking in the neighborhood, and who suddenly gave me a blow n "Ice to-day, Messieurs!" said a voice at the door; and there appeared the meek < but not vulgar head of old Polonai. Cuckles was going to expel the speaker, in spite of his age and reputed nobility of extraction, summarily ; but Fitz-Gubin, coloring slightly as he saw him, called him in. "Ah, the Sieur de Polonai !" said Riddel. "Well, Polo nai, musing on the downfall of the noblesse, eh? An ice, Polonai. When Henri returns, we shall have Polonai on his legs again." The old fellow, seasoned to chaff, having been trained like a war-horse to stand that fire, by the experience of innumer able ships on board which he had carried the ice-can, went on filling the glass with perfect composure. " Thanks, Seigneur de Polonai ! Merd ! You know, Polonai, your order brought their exile on themselves by their infernal tyranny," went on the lively Riddel. " I can just fancy old Polonai wopping a vassal !" Polonai grinned in his mild manner. " An ice for me," said Eitz-Gubin. Polonai worked away with the spoon in the crimson mass, FUN, FKIGATES, AND YACHTING. 79 pleasant to the eye as to the tongue, and handed one to him. As Fitz-Gubin raised himself " You ill, Signor ?" Polonai said, glancing at his bound- up head. Fitz-Gubin colored a little, and nodded. Polo nai looked at him ; you would have been surprised to see so much interest in that tame old face. He had a soft and even refined empressement (don't sneer, Tompkins, please!) in his manner, as he bowed at the side of the sofa, and pre sented Fitz-Gubin with the ice. When he drew back, and stood modestly beside his can, you might have noticed that his eye rested rather frequently on Fitz-Gubin. The side was piped. The Captain was coming on board to hear complaints, which had accumulated since his last visit from his house on shore. The Commander had sum moned all culprits, and the regular old routine was being gone through ; a marine who had polished off a corporal a seaman or two who have got drunk, and told the officer of the watch they would see him d d .first, are waiting judgment. But the gun-room mess are summoned to an interview with the Captain in the Admiral's cabin, regard ing the carrying of an instrument, known as a " colt," which has been applied to a meagre and pallid youngster, who has complained of the same. So away go the cabin- party ; old Polonai has glided out ; Fitz-Gubin has just composed himself for a siesta, with a handkerchief over his eyes, when the door is very gently opened. He drew the handkerchief off and looked vup, and he saw, entering with extreme quietness, and closing the door behind him, old Polonai. " Lord Fitz-Gubin/ 7 the old fellow said in a low voice, " you got that wound in your head in Strada St. Orsola Hush, milor, I am a very old man. I bear you no ill-will, nnd I respect your nation. One word, only, Lord Fitz- 80 S W E L L L I F E A T S E A ; OR, Gubin, take care ! Not what I might do I threaten you with. No, I am a poor old devil, and no matter. But, my lord, be a brave man and respect all men's rights !" Fitz-Gubin felt his throat dry as he was going to speak, and before he quite recovered from that effect, and from a confusion, which somehow crime over him, the old man dis appeared. Fitz-Gubin lay there, and wondered over the speech dozed and woke up, fancying he heard him at his ear, then slept deeper and found himself in Strada St. Orsola. There he was at the fountain, and Marie sitting near him her eyes on some object on the opposite side and never look ing at him, and the fountain seemed to fill up with water sud denly, and out of it came somebody who was his father and old Polonai in one, in some unaccountable manner. Then he was at Castellan, at home, and wandering round the old mausoleum where the Castellans used to be buried in the olden time, and he was going to be buried there, and thought it very odd that he should know anything about it ; and just as the Miss Wyomings were putting a nosegay into his coffin, and Marie taking it away to keep as a souvenir, he awoke. The ship's bell was striking, and not the bell of Castellan church tower, and the afternoon was far advanced. The dream impressed him a great deal and even in these anti-superstitious days a dream will impress people. (Man chester, to be sure, expounds the vision of Jacob, by sup posing him to have taken too much meat for supper ; it is a great blessing to live in an enlightened age !) He found it necessary to cheer himself up with a little soda-water and cura(joa, and the word being passed for Hobb, that marine soon brought the refreshment from the gun-room where, by this time, the cloth was laid for dinner, and the stew ard had broken off the composition of a sonnet to his mis tress, to indite the carte for the day. The fragrant and crisp beverage revived Fitz-GuUn, and dinner following FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 81 (at which Cackles took good care to send a faithful attend ant with plenty of the Brimbousky marine to the cabin) he soon only remembered the dream as " deuced odd," and the speech of old Polonai as that of a " queer old fellow." As his head mended, he lay there and meditated on little Ma rie, and on the necessary precautions to be taken for the future, against violent "cads." For indeed, he habitually considered a " cad" who rivalled him in these affairs, much as a kind of poacher one who interfered with the rights of the lord of the manor. In a short time news came to Malta brought by a young fellow of the name of Forbessy that the "Bloater" had been " lost " on the coast of Spain ! This was the cause of the arrival of Scrymgeour Forbessy, Esq., in Malta, and his subsequent apparition in the gun-room of the " Sove reign " one fine morning. Open flew the door, and in stalked, to the astonishment of the fellows there) including the con valescent Fitz-Gubin), a long youth in a picturesque but seedy garb, decidedly resembling that of a Spanish privateer. " Why, hillo who's this ?" asked old Manton. " Don't you know me ? You do, Siddlington Forbessy of the 'Bloater?'" " The devil I so it is, why, what's the meaning of this rig?" "The 'Bloater's' lost, Sir," cried Forbessy, flinging himself on a chair. " Not a rag of my traps saved ; the officers and company are to be sent for, and the admiral must send a craft too, to bring away the lower masts and rudder." " Bring a bottle of porter I" cried Siddlington, with pro fessional zeal ; "and you how the deuce came you here?" " Pappleton sent me on, in a Spanish merchant schooner, and, 'gad, I had to borrow a rig from the skipper, and I figure for the present as Antonio Perez." 4* 82 SWKLL LIFE AT SEA; OR, " Pappleton's smashed then, by Jove," said a midshipman " Nay ; they'll try Mrs. Pappleton, my dear fellow," Pug Welby said. " Well, Pm d d," old Manton began ; " they can't keep a ship in the service, now, by the blazes they can't. That's the third ship there's been lost since the beginning of the commission. I don't know what the service is coming to. There won't be a ship left to do the work of the station, soon. Pll be hanged if the men that are appointed now-aj days know how to keep a ship afloat. The service is changed since I joined, Pm hanged if it ain't ! There was Tails ; he had the Fizgig in the Baltic in 1814, and he took her off a lee shore blowing ; by the Lord, it did blow in those days ! and, by Jove, I say Tails he brought the Fizgig safe and sound home to Spithead. Why, they knew how to do it in 1814; but, now, the longer I live, the worse the service gets." That Manton could have continued in this strain all day long, anybody who remembers the venerable mate, will at once agree ; the key-note (that is, the few simple words which begin the harangue) once struck off he went ; and instantly, Siddlington winked at Riddel Pug nudged Lati- mer the youngsters playfully capered behind his chair, and various exhibitions of comic delight began. When he stop ped, everybody felt that a familiar bit of fun had terminated : and then old Manton, wagging his broad coat tails, disap peared ; Fitz-Gubin watching his movements as a dilkttante, stares at the ribs of some fossil ante-diluvian. "Bravo, Manton," Latimer cried ; and as the door closed behind the veteran, Beaulieu looked up (having heard the oration, with his eyes fixed on the page of a novel,) ejaculated "Rum old cock !" and returned to his favorite writer ! "Go on, Forbessy," Siddlington said. "Capital porter that I think ? We haven't room for above fifty dozen of it without displacing the Madeira !" FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 83 " I'll go on, my dear fellow ; but I feel a barbarian in this garb. I shall have to borrow a rig from you we're just about a size till Darba can make me something. I've forwarded Pappleton's despatches on to the Admiral, and he will likely send for me, to examine me about the matter in person ; you know it won't do to appear before him as Antonio Perez." "That's true; come on to the cock-pit," said the good- natured Siddlington. "This will be a serious matter for Darba!" said Pug Welby, with gravity. "Gad, I don't know. Except Forbessy none of the 'Bloaters' look like Christians," observed Riddel. A quarter of an hour's lapse brought Mr. Forbessy, look ing like the professional Forbessy of every-day life, to the gun-room again. It was about lunch-time, and a hot lunch was not tardy in coming, accordingly. "You won't be sorry to get a beefsteak, or a quail on toast, again, Forbessy ?" said Siddlington. "Not I though quails were never common in the Bloater.' " "No quails?" Riddel said. " No quails," replied Forbessy, gravely. "But a steak, after the wretched oily messes of my friend Perez, won't be amiss." So saying, Mr. Forbessy seated himself at a table, and seized a knife and fork with the glorious inspiration of sea air, since 4 A. JL, stirring in him. The languid youths, who had been three months in harbor, enyied him that ogre- like appetite. "I should like an ice," a youngster said, discontentedly ; "but there's no getting an ice to-day, unless you send a man on shore on purpose 1 Old Polonai is gone." Fitz-Gubin looked up. It was the first moment he had 84 SWELL-LITE AT SEA; OR, exhibited any animation for an hour-and-a-half. Perhaps he felt bored by seeing a stranger attract so much attention as Forbessy had been doing ; perhaps he was amused, and not bored, by the county paper from home, which he was lounging over. Even the family of which Eitz-Gubin is a member, must tire of that paper, I think ; though it every other week or so has "Rejoicings at Castellan dinner of the noble landlord's tenants Mr. Kiss in the chair the cloth being removed, and the usual toasts, &c., &c., the chairman gave the Noble The, &c., &c., (tremendous cheers,) the young Lord Evremond, (great cheering,) the Infant Plantagenet, (renewed and enthusiastic cheering/') and so on, on good ness knows what, and how many occasions, per ann. Even they, I remark, must tire of that print, and its sycophancy ; and probably they despise it, too. ' But this is a digression. Eitz-Gubin, I repeat, looked up. " What did you say about Polonai, youngster ?" . " What did I say ? I said he was gone to Marseilles, somebody said." The youngster was as curt and saucy as a youngster in the "Sovereign" dared to be-; for, "con found the fellow and his title," (the youngster afterwards observed to a brother juvenile, during a smoke "on the sly," at the main-deck bow-port,) "he never takes any notice of your existence, except just at his own convenience ;" and, true enough, several people did make some such complaint about our friend Eitz-G. He lived with you, breathed the same air with you, yet seemed to discover you as if you had just dropped from the moon, some day, suddenly when you could be made useful ! " Now for the loss of ' The Bloater,' " said Siddlington, as the cloth was removed. " Let me give you a drop of cura- &c. FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. IDS ''- 1 am glad Horace and I agree/' said Riddel. " But, 6y Jove, too, (he went on expounding the half-moral code, which he and many other young fellows hold in our day,) by -Jove, I say, it is not fair to be always following up a chase of this kind like a red Indian on a track. Hang it, if an apple drops into one's mouth, well and good ; but don't go sneaking like a burglar over the orchard Wall." Whereupon, Riddel, thinking he had made an ethical hit, sucked some sherry-and-water, and hugged himself as a good fellow. " There is a great deal of sound English feeling about that sentiment," said Beaulieu, with a grin. " Let's take a turn on deck." They left the main deck and found the night lovely. They mounted to the poop, and commenced a pleasant turn there. The stars were out in the heaven, and the winds loose upon the sea. "Who's that on the other side?" asked Riddel. He spoke of a figure which was leaning over the side of the bulwarks, and looking towards the shore. Riddel strolled over to see. The figure did not move. He returned, and told Beaulieu : it was Forbessy. "Ah, a quiet, and rather melancholy fellow," Beaulieu remarked, as they leaned, over the bulwarks of their side. " Never saw him, till he joined a few weeks ago. Seems of a good family, and not rich ; affectionate, but without chums ; earnest, with no particular beliefs ; and clever, without having decided what he will make his cleverness do !" " Why, Beaulieu, what an infernal observer you are," Riddel said, with an astonished air. " I scarcely ever saw you speak to Forbessy." Beaulieu laughed, looked down at the water, and said 136 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, " I tell you what I remark," Riddel went on, sharpened by Beaulieu's example, "Forbessy and Fitz-Gubin never speak to each other, now I think of it." " Let us come over and see what Forbessy 's about," said Beaulieu. " Do you know that ' attempted assassination/ as the papers would call it, has made me curious about one or two things." They moved across the poop, as he suggested. Forbessy was leaning in the same place still, and watching the line of shore. In the tranquillity of the night, the harbor and the town, seen from the Sovereign's high poop, seemed to hang like a curtain spangled with lights. Lights shifted to and fro, and played in and out from houses, along the water's edge from boats. It was the picture, perhaps, that For bessy was so interested in ; the picture .of that stillness pierced by those lights, under such a sweet sky, and full of so many associations. Forbessy turned as the young men joined him. ".What a fine night it is," he said. " You seem interested in the look of the town to-night," said Beaulieu, good-naturedly. " I was looking at at the town, in fact," replied our friend rather vaguely. " What's the time, I wonder ? About nine, I suppose ; and this is the fourteenth." "This is the fourteenth," Riddel answered, "I believe. 1 hope I shall hear from my aunt by next mail ! And now I think of it, I shall go on shore this evening." So saying, Mr. Riddel (whose ideas had been set into a new train by the sudden reminiscence of his aunt) departed. " Mr. Beaulieu," said Forbessy, turning round briskly to that gentleman, with whom he was now left alone, " I listened with interest to your story in the gun-room. Per mit me to tell you that there is danger to be apprehend sd FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 137 by you as I clearly see from the circumstances which you recounted ; as, in fact, I may say, I know. 11 " Indeed," Beaulieu said, in a quiet and composed way ; " really there'seems an unwonted degree of mystery and an unusual atmosphere of romance pervading H. M. S. Sove reign and Malta, just now." "There is always more of both, everywhere, than people readily believe," Forbessy said. " But, Mr. Beaulieu," he continued, " I will open myself to you more frankly. We have not been long in company in the ship ; nevertheless, I nave seen enough of you to know that you are melancholy Tor want of definite convictions about life ; friendly, without having confidants ; and but the rest might sound like flattery suffice it to say that the rest gives interest to the other phenomena I have observed !" " Why," said Beaulieu, " you echo the very remarks which I made, not half an hour ago, about yourself." " Nature, then, intended us to be friends," said Forbessy. " So be it," said Beaulieu. As they walked together for half an hour in the moon light, arm and arm, Forbessy told Beaulieu a story which interested him a good deal. What is needful for us to know of it, we shall know at the proper time. Meanwhile, I would just say, apropos of the eternal question of the age and its reforms might we not, considering the many editions of the De Amidtia which we possess ; and by way of doing a little instalment towards reform of a more profound sort, than giving expression to the enlightened wisdom of " 10 householders ;" might we not, I say, achieve a little stroke of "reform" by privately worshipping and recognizing, more than we do, the antique sacredness of the sentiment of friendship ? 138 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, CHAPTER VIII. THERE was a rumor spread about the circles of the Sove reign (for is not a line-of-battle ship a kind of town, and with as many degrees and circles in it as any town of them all ?) that Lord Fitz-Gubin had "got leave," and was go ing over to Sicily to shoot. He encouraged, however, no curiosity that anybody might feel on the subject. In fact, he withdrew himself, more than ever, from society in the Sovereign. He kept his watch, dined when he did not dine on shore at mess, and kept up, to be sure, an ac quaintance with Riddel, Siddlington, and others, and used Cuckles, but slight was the intimacy which any of them at tained with him. If Siddlington had ever formed a vision of himself as a guest at Castellan, and .a successful wooer of a Lady Eleanora there, Siddlington must, by" the time at which we have now arrived, have seen that it was a vision indeed. Other Jacobs, whose dreams had revealed to them ladders up to high life, had awakened too. The impenetrable, selfish easiness, and mysterious and solitary, yet common-place nature of Fitz-Gubiri, kept everybody off. Nay, a party actually formed to quiz him ! One or two men used to try to draw him out by hypocritical devices, encouraging the immense latent pride of the man to show itself ; teasing him as you might tease a tortoise, and, per haps, by a sudden turn, toppling him over on his back, and leaving him helpless ! For one of these conventional gen tlemen, once out of the protection of social convention, rudely brought in contact with nature, is as helpless as a tortoise in that position. Jigger once, seeing him with a collar of unrivalled finish and stiffness, exclaimed, in his fine bluff way, " Well, d n it, Fitz-Gubin, nothing does so take in the public as an imposing gill 1 ; >- Fitz-Gubin turned as FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 139 pale as death ! Another time the conversation was led to the subject of expensive living in messes. Fitz-Gubin won dered, after some careful drawing-out from our wicked clique, "how the deuce some fellows managed to live in the service, now-a-days." By-aud-by, in a moment of farther encouragement, he said that " he would* be worse ^ff with two hundred a-year than others with a third of it, having his rank to keep up," and so forth. But he was very know ing in his way, and had once or twice seen glances pass be tween men which he did not like. Beaulieu, (the villain,) who was "up" to the facts about the connection of the Fitz- Gubins with P , showed an inclination to hint at that old story one day, and it was all Forbessy could do to keep him off the dangerous ground. Latterly, however, For bessy and Beaulieu, still more together than ever, put them selves less and less in Fitz-Gubin's way. Such was the state of things when the above-mentioned rumor about his shootiug expedition got wind. The intimacy between Forbessy and Beaulieu caused a good deal of curiosity among the gentlemen of the Sove reign. What would a mess be without those combinations and antipathies, those personal likes and dislikes which divide its society, and give piquancy to its daily life 1 A large mess is like a town, and its society includes as many conflicting elements. Often there is an intrigue going for ward a mystery slowly evolving itself of which numbers of those who breakfast and dine together, day after day, never have a suspicion. Poor Charley Wrernond dies, and we learn that he had run away with a ward in Chancery, and had a family of little ones of whose existence we never dreamed. No wonder Charley was wont to be 'serious afc times when we were piqued at his being "slow-1" Jack Montacute is going to fight a duel with Sandwich the next port we' come to ; but they must dine together meanwhile. 140 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, and nobody must guess that there is anything of the kind meditated between them. What made Bellomont so friendly with Tangueray ? He was his natural brother, my dear sir ; hence the peculiar felicity of Bung's constant joke about the likeness between them ! Yes, romance underlies us everywhere in society, as the mystery of life underlies the fair city and country life we mingle in, and the existence we enjoy ; to both, however, the fool (to his gain, and also to his loss) is blind and deaf. Vorbessy and Beaulieu are sitting at the stern ports of the gun-room early in the morning. It is near the hour for taking a shore-boat to Bighi Bay to bathe. A marine is cleaning Eitz-Grubin's gun ; an operation watched with inte rest by one or two men who happened to be up as early as our friends. He performs the operation in their presence, and in the mess-room ; for, of course, they must take an inte rest in anything belonging to so notable a man. Latimer watches the process ; remarks that he thinks Fitz-Grubin will have a fine time of it ; and, by-the-by, where is he going to shoot ? Is he going to Sicily, or where ? Forbessy looked at Beaulieu in that d d mysterious way (I borrow this expression from Latimer) in which these gentlemen occasionally interchanged glances. They rose presently, and made for the door. " Going to bathe ?" Latimer called out. Beaulieu waved a towel in his hand, by way of answer ; and in a minute they were in a shore-boat. Out glided the heavy green and yellow boat, with awning spread, from the Sovereign's side towards the harbor's mouth the faithful Maltese (for the Maltese is among the most devoted and obedient of man kind, when kindly treated) rising and falling as he plied the oars, industrious and contented. " Bighi, sir ?" he asks. "Yes, Jocko," says Beaulieu, good-naturedly enough, (for B. is a gentleman in all ways,) but with the same kindness FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 14,. with which he would give an apple to a monkey ; for B. is an Englishman, dealing with a subject of another race. Forbessy and Beaulieu said little at first. The morn ing was opening up into a fine day. They were content to see the forts relieve with their deep hues the blue monotony of the sea the life spreading itself along the harbor's edges the stately masts of the few men-of-war in harbor tapering away into the sky and to let the picture sink into their minds in peace. The boat with a heavy motion drew farther and farther out, and the Maltese brushed away his curly hair, and paused a -moment. " That's her !" said Forbessy, suddenly. Beaulieu looked up, and saw in the line of the pointed finger a merchant-brig lying. There was nothing peculiar in her appearance to distinguish her from any Annie Jane or Isabella Briggs sent out by our country. "Row to the brig," said Beaulieu to their boatman, point ing to her. The Maltese obeyed, and soon brought them close to her. A head popped over the side with no very welcome expression, and said, "What d'ye want, master?' 7 " Go alongside/ 7 said Forbessy to the Maltese, and with out giving the head any answer, up jumped Beaulieu, up jumped Forbessy, and stood on the brig's deck. The head which was no less a head than a skipper's was set on a short little carcase. The skipper was no-way pleased to see his visitors, but, with hands in pockets, looked up at them, inquiringly "You take passengers," said Beaulieu, glancing round with a cool air of observation. "There you're wrong," said the short skipper, briefly. "You never take passengers, eh?" asked Beaulieu. "There you're wrong again," said the little skipper. "Your ears are longer than your tongue, I think, my good man," said Beaulieu, ineffably cool, and with tho 142 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, "great air" which he knew how to put on. "But waiving any attempts at epigram, which are ludicrously un suited to your social position, suppose you show us your cabin ?" "We come from the Sovereign, I may mention," put in Forbessy, carelessly " Oh !" The little skipper began looking round, and assuming a very knowing expression "Friends of Lord Fitz-Gubin's, I see !" The eyes of our friends met instanter. " So far so good," said Beaulieu, enigmatically. " Let us see the cabin, then." The skipper paused. " Did you say friends of Lord Fitz- Gubin's, sir ?" asked the skipper. "Skipper!" said Beaulieu, "I did not say so. Permit me, however, to make it plain that we must see your cabin. Why, I ought not to explain : I may want a passage. If you wish me to say more, I have more to say ; but I will be content with a look at your cabin." The skipper hesitated, but he yielded. They followed him down his cabin ladder. " There, now, gentlemen, Lord Fitz-Gubin's taken that berth ; that I s'pose you know." There was nothing specially curious about the place des tined to receive Fitz-Gubin. It was not so luxurious as one would suppose Fitz-Gubin would wish it to be. They looked at it and paused. The skipper seemed puzzled and uneasy, and watched them. "When -do you sail?" asked Beaulieu abruptly. " I think to-night." "Well," said Beaulieu, suddenly becoming quite free-and- easy in his manner, "I dare say Fitz-Gubin will have 'a nice passage of it. A devilish pleasant cabin you have. He dines with you, no doubt finds his own wine takes the run of your prog and will have a fowl occasionally, if FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 143 the hen-coops are not washed overboard. We need not wait, I think," said Beaulieu, with a twinkle of his eye at Forbessy. The skipper brightened up, and a weight seemed taken off his mind, " Skipper 1" said Beaulieu, fixing his eyes upon him witb a look like a rapier thrust, " where do you stow lady pas sengers ?" Tlse little man gave a start back. He was so manifestly upset that there was no concealing it. " Who are you sir ?" he said, "and wliat do you want with me? That's what I want to know/' " My good man, I am an officer in her Majesty's service, who takes some interest in the brig Victor. You must have seen that I know what I am about, and am not to be trifled with. First, you must show me the cabin taken for a young lady some weeks ago ; second, you had better say nothing about this visit ; third, you had better sail at your appointed time, and not mind about all your passengers being on board : you know whom you expect first !" The skipper made no resistance nor remonstrance. He showed them into the cabin. Forbessy came with Beaulieu to the door of it. Truly it was a snug little nest with a snow-white little crib wherein a fairy might nestle, and be lulled by the murmur of the sea. Forbessy peeped in in silence, and turned away with a sigh. Beaulieu moved away, drawing the skipper by the arm ; in that instant Forbessy slipped a letter under -the pillow. As they got on deck, Beaulieu gave his card to the skip per, and said, " Some day I may do you a turn if you be have yourself ; meanwhile, good morning P But the little man expressed no cordial wish that they should ever meet again ; they saw his head at the gangway as they were rowed away, watching them, unmoved, till it dwindled to a speck. 144 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, Meanwhile, breakfast was laid i the gun-room. * Up from the cockpit came the fellows of the mess. Here was lively Riddel, polite Siddlington, artful Cuckles, Latimer the sim ple, and Manton the gruff, with many more. Rasper, the steward's assistant, brings endless eggs ; Riddel, the extra vagant, orders wine. Now is the hour for reminiscences of last night, and endless varieties of squadron news. Now glide away, with various expressions of face, the infinite varieties also of the genus Dun. Pallid but pertinacious Tosta, eager and pimpled Sarjan, humorous but inflexible Baldero, you have been dodging about the cockpit the last hour ; it is now time for you to go. Most implicitly do I believe you when you say you will call to-morrow ! The eggs, the squadron, the duns are discussed together. " Gad ! I dreamed last night I paid Baldero I" said a youngster, chipping his egg. " You fellows affect duns," said Riddel. " You think it fine to be dunned. Mark me, lads, the day will come when the fun will vanish out of these bills, and leave a balance you won't like !" Everybody is impressed, for everybody feels that the speaker ought to know. But at this moment enter Fitz-Gubin. Forbessy and Beaulteu both look at him. You might see Forbessy's lip qMiver if you cared to watch him. Fitz-Gubin is in mufti bran-new semi-sporting rig. He is a little pale, but this may be our fancy, who have been peeping at his secrets ; yes, he is a litte pale, and has a more serious expression than usual. He takes his usual seat up among the leading sen iors, with the usual quiet mechanical air of superiority, and the steward (whose aristocratic predilections are well known) attends to him in person. Fitz-Gubin eats an egg, consumes toast, drinks a cup of tea*; then remarks, that the day seems fine, and wonders whether the breeze will hold. FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 145 Fitz-Gibin threw out a remark occasionally to an audi ence, as one scatters crumbs to birds, with a careless good nature that seemed to say, " Eat, and be filled." Cuckles hastened to observe, that the day was fine, and to hope that the breeze would hold. " Think of going to-day?" called out Beaulieu. Fitz- Gubin did not hear him. Beaulieu kept his eye fixed in a somewhat impressive manner on him ; so Cuckles, fearing mischief, called his attention to Beaulieu. " I beg your pardon, Mr. Beaulieu?" Fitz-Gubin's man ner was, indeed, tremendous in its politeness. Bung was awed, and tried to imitate the style, afterwards, at the grog tub. " Are you going to-day ?" repeated Beaulieu. "Perhaps so. My intentions are not quite definite." Bung was lost in admiration ; Cuckles felt himself ele vated. Beaulieu said no more at that moment, and Cuckles and others doubted not that he felt himself rebuked. And so breakfast passed off, and men dispersed. Breakfast once well over, our friends Forbessy aud Beau- lieu disappeared. We, however, who know what they are about, will follow them on shore. They marcli briskly through several streets, and pause at a place where horses are to be had. All the way along, Forbessy has been seri ous, not to say gloomy. He has carried on a kind of mon ologue, to which Beaulieu has listened with the faithful patience of a friend. " There," says Forbessy, " there was the street. That was the church. A church, by-the-by, which is an emblem of all Europe ; for over the graves of dead earnestness and greatness, populace gather, and boobies prate. (I saw Bagman, Esq., there, with a party one morning, making ootes for an anti-superstitious harangue, and grinning in 7 146 SWELL LIFE AT SEA ; OR, pitiable idiocy, and with perfect ignorance, over the graves of the knights.) Some day I may tell you all that has passed in my head and heart, since I took part in this little drama, of which the catastrophe approaches. Beaulieu, my dear fellow, you shall see her to-day 1" CHAPTER IX. THEY were now canteiing through the gates, past the fortifications, with their green turf and their solid stone, which form the hem of the garment of that sea-damsel, Ya- letta. Before them lies the stony landscape, which we described the other day, basking in mild autumn hues. They turn into a narrow road, and make for an unfrequent ed village. A dog barks ; some children rush out a crone, repo_sing under the shadow of a chapel, wakes up, and stares, and grasps her crutch. But, in a moment, she slumbers again, as quietly as the dry and dusty trees which front a small row of little white houses ; as quaintly, too, as yonder wooden saint, perched up in a box with glass windows at the corner. " Why, the whole village is asleep," exclaimed Forbessy. Indeed, it looked like it. But Forbessy, riding close up to the windows of a house, tapped with the butt-end of his whip at them. A sleepy and also woolly head appeared there, staring as if still in a dream, then vanished, and out from the door appeared a Maltese, and proceeded to offer his services to hold the horses. They dismounted. Beau- lieu took Forbessy's arm, resigning himself to -his command, and they strolled through the little place enjoying the after noon air. The houses forming the village were grouped together so fantastically, and without order ; trees shooting up amongst them ; bits of garden dividing them, with an FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 141 effect so careless and unsystematic, that you might fancy that the whole had beer scattered by the hand of a flying deity en route to Greece. The chapel had somehow got planted in the centre, and seemed to hold itself up as an en sign for the houses to rally round. There was a time when the chapel was that everywhere. "This village," said Forbessy, taking a firmer clasp of his friend's arm, " enjoyed some patronage during the days of the Order. The knights came out here occasionally as a change ; some of them had houses here. In this little place, for instance, I recognize the relics of a gentleman's dwelling." So saying, Forbessy opened a garden gate, and followed by his friend, marched in. The house stood apart from the village, and had, indeed, an air, even in decay, of former better fortune. The garden still boasted trees of orange and of almond. And among the wild grass, which sprang up rank over the ruins of a wall, there were fragments of stone of which the carved and shapely proportions indicated that they had formed part of structures, when the occupiers loved beauty. " By Annabel !" said Beaulieu, rather affectedly, " a pleasant place enough ! One sometimes fancies one could live in such places, and be very very virtuous and romantic ; but one comes back to civilization and milk punch." " Yes," said Forbessy, "couldn't one lie on the grass with a pipe in one's mouth, and hear the Castle of Indoknce read by somebody ? But here she comes !" As he spoke, the door opened ; the porch, overgrown with roses, which were waving and falling in heaps, vibrated. A little boy came skipping out, ran up to Forbessy with perfect familiarity, and hailed him as "Missa Forbessy,' most intimately. Forbessy lifted him up, and played with him, to the ini- 148 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, mense amusement of Beaulieu. "Marie come directly," said the youngster. "Who asked you about Marie, enfant terrible!" For- bessy said. Beaulieu smiled, and admired the fatherly air of Forbessy, who made himself at home, and produced from his pocket certain dulciaria for the juvenile, quite like a veteran. The door opened again. This time, there appeared in the garden a little thin old man in black, with a skull cap on. What linen was visible on the old gentleman was not very clean, and time had played havoc with his teeth. But his head was good ; his-face was the peasant face, tempered by the priestly position, and by drilling since boyhood, the common priest-face of Malta. "Father Simola, my friend Mr. Beaulieu," said Forbessy. Father Sirnola was very polite. Father Sinioia had ac quired English. He looked at Beaulieu, and then he said, rubbing his hands together, " Is your friend from Lancashire like yourself?' 7 "No," said Forbessy. "No, Father Simola. He wants to know if you are one of the but never mind," he con tinued rather abruptly. Forbessy treated the Father with a great deal of good-natured courtesy, though the old gen tleman made but a small figure in conversation ; was, indeed, the ordinary, unromantic priest of the lower orders, and up to the calibre of the little chapel. More arrivals two or three more younkers, among whom at last sailed out our young friend, Marie Polonai. Beaulieu was all eyes ; he had never seen her before, and when he first found her one of their gronp > and standing tranquilly before Forbessy and the Father, he scarcely knew what to say she was so much more beautiful so very superior in all ways to his anticipations. Forbessy, who FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 149 Had shaken hands with her in a brotherly manner, when she first appeared in the garden, presented Beaulieu to her. Beaulieu was struck by nothing so much (not even by her eyes, which were miraculous, and which I should despair of describing) as by the utter naturalness of her manner. This was what delighted all competent observers in Marie Polo- nai. She was as natural as a rose, if I may be permitted such a comparison ; that is, she was always equally delight ful ; equally in her place, singing, talking, running, dancing ; all her actions flowed from a central beauty of which they partook, and while you wondered at her perfection, and strove to account for it, you found criticism to merge at last into mere assent, and were contented with the fact without puzzling yourself with the " why." The youngsters brought seats. They sat down and tran quilly basked in the afternoon, of which Forbessy seemed to cherish every passing moment. The wind blew a few rose-leaves from the mass at the porch, which scattered themselves all over Marie, and fell about her. " Oh ! that wind," said Forbessy. " I hate the wind ! It carries away good fellows like Beaulieu and me from all we love sailors are its slaves. It does the evil work of autumn, for it carries the flowers and leaves away long lie- fore autumn has altogether ruined them, and while they are first tinged with a new beauty by it. It is going to take Marie away, as it has just done the roses I 1 ' " Yes, but the wind that takes me can, by and by, bring yon," said Marie in a low voice. Forbessy looked up at her, but said nothing. . " How glad your father will be to see you, Marie," said Father Simola, simply. " He will. He is to take me to Naples. I am to learn to sing. The ladies Wyoming say that I already sing like an angel." 150 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, " These ladies/' said Father Simola, alluding with severity to their plans of conversion, " are not good ladies." " They are very kind. They wished me to begin a new worship, it is true. I told, them worship is worship, and be longs to the heart. I cannot argue, but, already, if I am good, I know how to pray. Every day, after I have seen them, I have seeti Father Simola ;' he can argue ; and I have known him since a little girl ; but the ladies Wyoming will not see Father Simola !" Beaulieu smiled. " You are a good girl," said Father Simola. The little boy came running up,, laughing and shouting. Something new was evidently about to begin ; and Beau- lieu looking up, saw a party of Maltese approaching. Forbessy and the others were ready to receive them. For- bessy shook hands with one or two, and Beaulieu observed that they all treated him with great respect, and seemed to know him quite well. Beaulieu felt the scene new, and as he strolled about the garden, fancied himself a seigneur presiding at the festival of his peasantry. " But, my good fellow," said Beaulieu, recognizing a face which he had seen before, " surely you and I have met somewhere ? If I mistake not, it was on an occasion when you wanted me to taste your knife !" The Maltese smiled and bowed very low. "Pardon me, sar I think it was 1" Then, again taking off his cap and bowing very low indeed, he twisted round and shot away to another part of the garden. Beaulieu stood watching them. Father Simola, who drew near, said, " They all adore Marie 1 she is the pride of their whole neighborhood, she is so kind and good she is so modest and gifted ; they would kill any one who they thought would insult her." And so the old padre rattled oii about the gifts and graces of the girl, and the worship FUN, FRIGATES; AND YACHTING. ioi of her by the Maltese. Sorre of them had formed a band of worshippers, and were pledged to guard her and so forth. . . But the afternoon was wearing 1 away. The pale rose- colored fire was already spreading itself over the west. It was time to go. Beaulieu was conducted with many de monstrations of politeness to his horse ; Forbessy lingered a few minutes, and then followed. Waving his whip to Beaulieu, he motioned him to follow at a gallop ; and for many minutes they clattered on in silence. At last For bessy pulled up and began to talk before any questions were asked him. " A strange episode eh? You observed how* much alone I was, and how much occupied by unshared thoughts, till you and I discovered each other, as I may justly call it? Accident threw me in the way of that charming being. I made acquaintance with her family, chiefly by favor of that old priest, whom but no matter at present about my rela tion to him. I was interested by her genius for it is genius which gives that air of superiority to her manner, and which raises it above her birth. She will be a great artist ; and I hope the world will never spoil her. Well, I almost im mediately discovered the designs of our gentleman from shire, and for weeks I have amused myself by counter acting them keeping him from possibly coming in contact with her, just as a gardener would keep a slug or caterpillar from his flowers. The gentleman from shire, (by Jove ! I could give you a capital history of the Fitz-G-ubins. Ours was one of the families which their patriarch Gubbins man aged to mano3uvre out of shire) saw Marie once at night, in Yaletta, and otice at the Wyomings, who patron ized her as a barn-door- fowl might patronize a nightingale. He puts you in danger by haunting her dwelling at all hours ; but never saw her again. He sent her letters, 152 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, which she handed over to old Simola, who nsed to burn them with much ceremony, and cross himself afterwards. And (here Forbessy laughed) he employed what he calls ' a cad ' to convey those epistles, who, by the way of keep ing up a lucrative employment, got somebody to write an swers ; and Fitz-Gubin lived in the conviction that he was encouraged. He sent her bracelets and a locket ; and I am sorry to say that old Simola sent these off yesterday to the Wyomings, for their friend the ' Lord Fizzgubbing" as he calls him. This I did not know in time to prevent it, which I would have done for their sakes. The final step you already know viz., that having learned the how and when of the girl's departure, he got leave to go for LI trip, and took a cabin in the Victor a fact of which she has no knowledge intending to give her a delightful surprise, and have a pleasant cruise as the irresistible Fitz-Gubin I" " Upon my word, a devilish pleasant programme !" said Beaulieu. "A word of this notable scheme would have caused some friends of Marie's to do what would have stopped Fitz- Gubin's career, perhaps, finally ; but then the service is to be considered. No ; we must stop him ourselves. I owe that 'great family 7 a grudge, and shan't be sorry to punish him." Little does the solid BULDER think what plots are being plotted, what a secret life is transacting itself under the brilliant surface of his lighted saloons this autumn night ! Let us be thankful that we do not see society as the micro scope shows us a bright drop of water, with ugly objects preying on each other in its heart ! Let us be thankful for its apparent brightness and purity, and topple it off without applying the microscope ; at least, without applying it al ways. Pass on, stout Mr. Bulder ; thou art a good-natured, hospitable old gentleman, happy among thy guests, not de- FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 153 v cured by secret anxieties, nor bored by those whom thou entertainest. Glance at Lady Ostrich the beautiful ; is she not happy ? Is not everybody happy here ? Listen to the music the embodiment of luxury and romance is it produced by a band who hate the party for taking them away from their pipes at the canteen ? Has the apparent happiness a secret fact lurking under its production, like that fact about the music ? It may be so. But carpe diem. Wine will give you a headache ; but, if you do not take wine, you may yet have a headache to-morrow. Beaulieu and Forbessy were both dancing. Beaulieu always danced ; it pleased the people of the house, and, after all, did not bore him much. But regularly as each quadrille was over, he and Forbessy glided together. Ne ver, for any length of time, did they lose sight of Fitz-Gubin. The Wyomings were there ; but Fitz-Gubin did not dance, and avoided them. His eyes once met Forbessy's, but no sign of recognition, passed ; but Forbessy and Beaulieu re marked how easily he carried himself how well he hid under his calm exterior the secret excitement which must have been at his heart. Forbessy grew restless. Beaulieu again and again sooth ed him. So long as Fitz-Gubin remained in the room, (as he urged,) all was well. Presently, Beaulieu approached Forbessy, and whispered to him, " Come." When they stood outside on the landing" place, Beaulieu said, "A man of the gives a supper at the hotel . Fitz-Gubin is to be there. I have got myself and you asked, at the last moment. Fitz-Gubin is evidently to start from there. I met Siddlington, just now, and drew from him carelessly, that he had formally begun his leave, and left the Sovereign. So let us off to the hotel,, and manage the affair as quietly as we can." They were the last arrivals. The party consisted of some 7* 154 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, fifteen men. As they entered the room, Fitz-Gubin was talking away ; and, though we know that he had himself under tolerable control, he did not look pleased when he saw our friends enter. They were the only men of the Sovereign present, and just the two men of the Sovereign whom he least knew, or least cared to meet. " Mr. Beaulieu, and Mr. Forbessy," said the good-natured host, " messmates of Fitz-Gubin's, I think ? This way ! Will you begin with a quail ? What wine, Beaulieu ? Fitz-Gubin, you don't drink !' ; They sat down ; some gentlemen had begun to drink evi dently pretty early. Wine of the best sorts was plentiful enough : the supper comprised all that Malta can afford ; and Malta is not poor in that department. Bones from the funeral pyres of gallant turkeys (ossa perusta, a Latin poet would call them) came up in quick relays; the pleasant quail on his bed of toast ; the piquant becafico, who nou rishes his fine soul on the romantic fig, awaited the appetite and excited to wine ; while for the mere sentimental dawdler, fruit and liqueurs offered their voluptuous charms. When you had exhausted every sense of the palate, you could still seek coolness and forgetfulness in some iced punch pun,ch as attractive and exciting as the eyes of houris. There was a great deal of drinking. Two or three fel lows early babbled, and became merely bores. Forbessy drank, 4;oo ; but 'the pre-occupation of his mind kept him from being overcome ; wine only strung up and sharpened his faculties, and intensified his sense of past, present, and future. The conversation (when the two or three babblers fell asleep) became fixed among a few, and the rest list ened. "But come, Fitz-Gubin come; about this last adven ture, you know ! You were shayiug ?" began a young gentleman, whose hair was fast getting into his eyes. FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 155 " Fitz-Gubin, you don't drink ?" said the host. "Your last, what d'ye call it, ye know?" continued the speaker. " Oh, nothing very extraordinary !" said Fitz-Gubin, with an intolerably conceited manner. " I'm an old stager. When I was in South America ah, never mind ! Poor little Madeline !" "Wouldn't she have you, then ?" called out Beaulieu. Fitz-Gubin did not take any notice of him. Beaulieu, who was drinking pretty hard, poured some moselle into his tumbler, and drank it off. "About Madeline ?" called out Beaulieu, very loudly. " No no ; about the new one. I say, Fitz-Gubin, let us hear about her. Are her eyes blue?" asked the first speaker, with a determined and most serious air. " JSTo ; charming dark eyes ; nice as the Spanish girls." " Sit down, Forbessy, for God's sake ! and wait a little !" whispered Beaulieu, for Forbessy was turning pale and very serious. * " Oh, hang dark eyes ; give me blue eyes !" said the aforesaid young gentleman, looking round with an imbecile expression. "Fitz-Gubin, you don't drink?" said the host, once more. " I mustn't drink : I'm going to sail at daylight." " Sail at daylight?" inquired somebody. " Gentlemen," cried Beaulieu, "fill your glasses." The roar with which he said this, accompanied by a thump which made all the glasses ring, startled the whole table. Wine, punch, all conceivable liquors were poured out sherry by some, into champagne and brandy by some, into sherry as the mad genius of the hour dictated. Beau- lieu jtood up, with a tumbler full to the brim of wine, bal ancing himself with a slight lurch. " Gentlemen, I propose 156 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, a toast. I propose one of the most beautiful and innocent creatures God ever made \ n Here there was an immense noise, with wild outcries and the crashing of glass. " The man who does not drink it, shall rue the hour. Gentlemen, Marie Polonai ! Forbessy, return thanks !" "Marie Polonai!" screamed a dozen voices, and again there was a noise which shook the room. "Who is she?" called out several men. " Forbessy !" roared others. Fitz-Gubin had started to his feet, like a man shot in the heart, and stood up speechless and pale with surprise. Forbessy had done the same, and, as the noise died away, the two stood there facing each other ; men, sober enough to judge, saw that in the look of the two faces, as they met, there was deadly mischief. "Do you drink that toast, Lord Fitz-Gubin ?" Forbessy asked. "I drink it 1 You surprise me, sir, by asking me abouc any proceeding of mine. Capt. Bechamel thank you for your hospitality : it is late and I must bid you good night." "Lord Fitz-Gubin, you leave not this room to sail in the Victor : mark me, to sail in the Victor, I say ! If you are such a craven as " This was the one thing needed to make the scene com plete. ' Like a handful of powder falling on a fire, the room went into a blaze. Noises of every kind caused a scene of extreme confusion. Fitz-Gubin lost himself in spite of his caution ; there were fatal words, and a scuffle. "Now," said Captain Bechamel, "nothing remains but to separate for the evening, and postpone all necessary ulterior proceedings till the proper time. After what has passed, of course, Lord Fitz-Gubin will see the propriety of remaining in Malta, till the matter has come to its pro per termination." FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 151 The next day after this scene, the mail from England arrived, with (among other novelties) Fitz-Gubin's promo tion to the rank of lieutenant. This brought a new ele ment into the matter. Explanations memoranda notes recapitulations, and botherations of all kinds passed between the parties in the quarrel and their representatives. Finally, everybody was "satisfied." But to this hour it is the opin ion of Fitz-Gubin that Malta is a d d hole 1 CRUISE OF THE IDA. ttOM COLBURN'S UNITED SERVICE MAGAZINE FOR APRIL. CHAPTER I. HOME. JLOOK upon money," said my father, filling out for him self a glass of port wine, and pushing the decanter to wards me, " to be the root of all evil."^ " The love of it, you mean ?" said my mother, with that meek, inquiring smile with which she was wont to question the paradoxes put forth by her better half. " The want of it, by Jove, Sir, 'the res angusta domi,' is unquestionably far more prolific of real misfortune," inter rupted I, with all the pertness of a youngster. "Make money honestly, if you can, my boy," replied my father. " If you can't, I would not recommend the ' quocun- que modo? It will be quite the same to you, a hundred years from this day, whether you were clothed in purple and fine linen, "and drove down in your carriage to ' the House,' listened to a few drowsy speeches, and returned to a sumptuous banquet in Belgravia ; or whether you swept a crossing for sixpence a clay, and dined off broken victuals, the tenant in common yf a lodging in St. Giles'. You won't fare a bit the worse in the next world because you are poor in this." " Ah !" said my mother, " that is all very well, once we get there; but does it not make some difference while we arc FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 159 here 1 You would not be sitting in that comfortable arm chair, beside that cheerful fire, and beside me, if you had nothing but a crossing to sweep." " I think, Sir, it is Lord Bacon who says : -'There can be no stronger proof of the slender value which Providence sets upon money, than the sort of people he gives it to ;' but at the same time, I am rather inclined to agree with my mother, that a deficiency in the commodity is a much worse thing than too much of it." "Pish I" replied my father, cracking a filbert, and adjust ing his napkin across his kn^es, "the subject is one not unworthy of grave discussion ; much can be said on both sides. The influence money has upon the destinies of man kind whether in the individual or the abstract is all- important. A scrutiny into the pecuniary dealings of any one person, from the cradle to the grave, would not only be a complete history of his life, but when we come to con sider the vices and the virtues with which it is connected dishonesty, extravagance, intemperance, profligacy, frugal ity, and self-denial, the corruption that follows upon the love of it, the industry which is sweetened by its acquisi tion, the vicissitudes that follow in its train there can be no doubt that such an investigation would hold a perfect mirror up to nature, and exhibit the man as he really is behind the scenes, not as he moves and plays his part before the public, on the great stage of human life." My mother looked upon her lord with an admiring eye, as he refreshed his eloquence with another glass of the generous liquid, gave a preparatory "hem," and continued " 'Blessed is the rich that is found without blemish, and hath not gone after gold/ There are few who come within the range of this benediction ; a thousand temptations a thousand snares beset his path who is born to opulence ; wealth will alter his mind the desire of gain grows by 160 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, what it feeds on it is seldom associated with nobler objects ; and I look upon the mercantile spirit of the age, I mean the mere investment of money, for the sake of repro duction, to be one of the strongest and most fatal signs of the utter degeneracy of the times. Therefore, my son, I think it is just as well for you, whether as regards your temporal or your eternal welfare, that you will not inherit anything from me ; the best patrimony I can leave you, is a true heart, a good education, and a strong will. Let these temper the edge of that sword with which you will carve your way through the battle of life. You will find the road open to you, as easily as the oyster of ancient Pistol, or this filbert which I split with my knife." Having thus concluded his discourse, my father carefully raked the under-bar of the fire, upon which he threw a fresh faggot of log-firs, and having crossed his legs and folded up the napkin that lay on his knee, he leaned back in his easy chair, and went off into a gentle slumber. Let us take a glance at him, reader, as he is enjoying his post-prandial nap. There are no candles upon the square, small, old-fashioned table, with its quaintly carved legs, which stands upon the hearth-rug. Nor is there any other light in the room, save that emitted from the ample fire, whose flashing rays, dancing up the chimney, threw out in strong relief the outlines of the form reposing in the old arm-chair. It was that of a large, powerfully-built, and handsome man, in the decline of life ; a few thin silver hairs were all that remained around the temples, and the features, even in repose, seemed strongly marked by the traces of care as well as of years well - might and begin at the head ; mind your own business, can't yon, and leave me to mind mine ?" " Take a glass of wine with me, my boy, and don't put yourself in a passion about nothing." Such is an average specimen of the conversation which took place at the adjoining table ; jokes of a like nature seemed the order of the day, and each moment the merri ment of the party waxed louder and more boisterous. My father and I exchanged glances, arid sat silent, but not un observant spectators. " We are bound for the east, I believe ?" the gentleman said who was named Staunton. " So I hear," responded Ellis. " Well, we shall have only one more dinner on shore, so let's make the most of our time." "The deuce, when do we sail then ?" 'inquired the mack erel-eater. "You may sail when you please, but the Ida sails on Tuesday," said Staunton sententiously. The dinner, which had been protracted through its vari ous stages, was at last concluded, the cloth was removed, a plentiful supply of claret, with a handsome dessert, was placed upon the table, and the party drank and laughed and "chaffed" each other with the most boisterous good humor. Staunton told droll stories, sang droll songs, and pushed the bottle backwards and forwards, making noise enough for a half dozen ; so, what with laughing, and talk ing, and drinking, the scene grew too noisy to afford any farther amusement, and we prepared to retire to our re spective apartments. " Charley, my boy," my father said, as we proceeded up stairs, "what do you think of your shipmates ?" " \ noisy set of fellows enough, sir," I said. 172 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, " I hope the first time you dine together, you will let them see you know the head of a mackerel from the tail," my father said, with an air of quiet raillery, as he bade me good night. " The next morning we waited on the captain, to show we had a letter of introduction from my uncle. My father sent up his card, and was at once admitted. Captain Deadeye was a fat man, with a red face, broad shoulders, and, what is vulgarly called, a paunch. He had a tight look about him, as if all the blood in his body was squeezed up into his head, which appearance was probably produced by a stiff military stock he wore ; he was attired in a somewhat faded uniform ; he was unbuttoned, and his trousers seemed very much too wide for him. He received us with great cordial ity, and begged us to be seated. " You have come in good time ; we sail the day after to morrow." " Indeed," said my father. " Allow me to introduce my son to you." Captain Deadeye then shook hands with me. " 1 hope the youngster will do you credit," he said, with a grim smile ; " if he only makes as good a sailor as his uncle, he'll do." This was encouragement ; and I expressed my ac knowledgments by a blush, which I endeavored in vain to repress. "This being your last day, we shall not occupy your time further, Captain Deadeye ; I wished only to make the boy known to you before he went on board," my father said, preparing to take his leave. " Not a bit ; I never put off things to the last moment, BO I've got plenty of time on hand ; but if you'll dine with me here at seven, I shall be delighted ; your son will then have an opportunity of becoming acquainted with some of his messmates." FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 173 My father promised his assent, and we withdrew from the great man's presence, rather favorably impressed by the re sult of our interview. We passed the remainder of the morning in wandering about the town, and inspecting such lions as the place con tained. We visited the dock-yard, walked down to the pier, and saw the steamers, which plied to and fro to Hyde, whose white houses, ranged tier above tier, sparkled in the autumn sunshine. To me, however, the most interesting object of contemplation was the old " Yictory," about which I had heard and read so much ; there she Jay, a sheer hulk ; that old vessel, which had carried the thunders of England through so many a storm of fight. How tremendous she must have been once. How helpless she looks now, for the shirts and other garments, which were hung upon lines to dry, fluttered in the breeze, and gave the gallant old ship more the appearance of a floating laundry than anything else. Having inspected the docks and the neighborhood, we strolled until it was time to go and dress for dinner. The captain, upon our arrival, received us with a cordial wel come, and introduced us to such of the company as had already assembled ; among them were two of the young gentlemen who had dined in the coffee-room of the George upon the previous day, to whom I was gravely introduced. " I like to make my officers acquainted with each other, if I can, before they go on board ; you'll see some more of them by and by." I was then presented to Mrs. Deadeye, and afterwards to her daughter ; and the remainder of the guests soon arriving, dinner was announced, and, marshalled in due order, we proceeded down a flight of somewhat nar row stairs, which led to the place of entertainment. With the exception of a gentleman in a white tie and a suit of unexceptionable sables, whom I rightly conjectured 114 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, to be a clergyman, the remainder of the male portion of the party, my father, of course, also excluded, were of the sea faring order. Captain Deadeye was in high feather, and though he stiuck me as being deficient in that polish which I should hare expected a man of his rank to possess, he seemed very good-natured ; and for so great a man, (for at that time I would have regarded a prime-minister with a good deal less awe,) I thought him affable and condescend ing to a degree. His better half was a buxom woman of forty- five or thereabouts ; and of their daughter Julia, all that I can say is,, that any comparison between her and my fair cousin would have been infinitely to the disadvantage of the former. When we were fairly seated at the table, and the first clatter of plates, knives, and glasses had subsided, the soup being removed, and the sherry handed round, I had more time to observe the company who were then and there as sembled. The first lieutenant sat nearly opposite to me : he was a bluff weather-beaten person, verging upon /orty, with a cast of countenance which expressed, as strongly as a face can, the strong resolution and determination of his nature. In person, he was short and thick set ; and having suffered se verely from the small-pox during his infancy, Mr. Morris was not, by any means, what could be called a handsome man. The second lieutenant impressed me less favorably than his senior : he was rather better-looking, but he had a pee vish and irascible air about him ; his voice was singularly harsh and forbidding, and his tone dictatorial enough for an admiral, at the least. In the persons of two other guests I recognized, as ] have already said, members of the dinner-party at the George on the preceding day, and with them, ladies, whose FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 175 names I could not learn, and my father and myself such was our party. The conversation turned chiefly upon nautical matters, and the second lieutenant monopolized the conversation, I thought, rather more than was consistent with my ideas of good breeding. The midshipmen paid delicate attentions to the young ladies, and drank as much wine as they could get hold of without attracting public observation. Of the captain's conversation I could not hear much ; it was shared for the most part between my father, who sat on one side of him, and an elderly gentlewoman, splendidly arrayed in green satin, who sat upon the other. Upon the whole I was not sorry when the banquet, which appeared to me to be protracted to an unusual ex tent, had terminated ; and it was with unfeigned satisfac tion that I found myself again in the drawing-room, when the captain's lady took kindly notice of my forlorn condi tion, and inquired after my mother, asked if I had any sis ters, and whether I liked the idea of going to sea. When I sought my pillow that night and fell asleep, what a confused train of disjointed images tumbled as it were through my brain. I thought of Lucy then she suddenly changed into Mrs. Deadeye with whom I thought I was on the eve of something like matrimony, in the village church near the old hall ; while a post-chaise with four horses was waiting to convey us on a hymeneal expedition into North Wales. This dream was so awful that I wakened suddenly, but it was only to fall asleep again, and dream of things still more strange and appalling, which I shall not stay and set down here. 176 SWELL LIFE AT SEA ; OR, CHAPTER III. THE IDA. THERE was a heavy drizzling rain falling, and it blew a stiffish breeze, when at the appointed hour we set out in the captain's barge for the ship, which was lying at some distance. My father would . see the last of me, he said, so he accompanied me on board, when we parted. To describe the feeling of desolation which came over ine, when I saw him re-enter the boat, would be impossible ; a melancholy foreboding was on my mind that I should see the old man no more ; and, as I leaned over the side of the gigantic vessel, to watch the boat now rapidly receding in the dis tance, I felt that ere long I would vainly sigh for the tran quil scene of my early years, and regret the hour when I had been tempted to forsake them. I never felt more deeply the strength of the ties which bound my heart to my old home than I did at that moment, but it was too late for re gret. The past was beyond recall. All that remained for me to do was to endeavor to profit by those lessons of wis dom, which had so often been impressed upon my mind ; and something like the feeling came at last to my mind, that even should I utterly fail in my duty, it would not be for any want of energetic determination on my- part to fulfil it. When I looked about me, the uproar and confusion which prevailed upon deck were beyond anything I could have imagined ; officers were thundering forth their orders to a confused crowd of seamen, in a language which seemed to me utterly unintelligible. The men were rushing to and fro, tumbling about in all directions, and cursing vociferously. A number of strangers and women, who, having received FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 177 permission to come on board to see their relations, were still lingering, seemed in everybody's way. I spoke to some of the people near me, but they were too busily engaged to pay attention, nor did they even seem to understand what I was saying ; and during the greater part of the forenoon I remained in this forlon condition, until at last I succeeded in discovering a quiet corner where I could rest my aching head, and recover the possession of my wandering senses. After some hours of active exertion, the officer in com mand at last succeeded in getting things in some degree to rights. The deck was cleared of the strangers who had come on board, and the boats from shore, in a perfect flo tilla, by which the Ida had been surrounded, gradually dis appeared towards evening. The captain came on board, attired in full uniform ; he was received by the two senior officers, and in a short time afterwards orders were given to weigh anchor. I was cheered in some degree by the lively sound of the fife, and the animation of the active sailors who worked at the windlass, and were springing about the rigging was not without its effect in recovering my spirits. The wind was fresh and fair ; the evening cleared ; and the Ida glided from her moorings, saluted from the shore and from the ships we passed, by loud cheers, which were repaid with interest by our crew. It is a rare sight, and no novice has ever seen it for the first time without emotion, to witness the departure of one of these great bulwarks of our national glory, thus setting forth upon her adventurous career ; a thousand hearts, ready to brave the battle-fire or the wreck, are beating within her, and look upon their native land, may be, for the last time. They go forth in the pride of hope, they dream but little of the fury of the storm, the crash of battle, or 8* 118 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, the home which may await them in the unfathomed caverus of the great deep. Their hearts beat high with confidence and with joy ; and of the two, the feelings of those on shore are perhaps less to be envied than the adventurous sailors. Occupied by reflections such as these, it was some time before I mustered up resolution to inspect the quarters which had been allotted to me. Having at length found a sailor who appeared sufficiently unoccupied to warrant me in requesting his guidance, I was shown the way down a ladder into a dark region between decks, where, in the fore part of the vessel, the midshipmen's berth was situated The domain at first sight seemed by no means an agreeable residence, nor did a further inspection tend to increase its attractions. The greater portion of the room was taken up by a deal table, above which was suspended a lamp. The table-cloth was spread as if for supper, and the clatter of plates somewhere in the neighborhood indicated that prepa rations were on foot for that repast. My allotted seat being pointed out to me, I saw nothing better to do than to sit down and occupy it which I did accordingly, marvelling much at the miserable accommodation which her gracious Majesty was pleased to afford to the officers in her service. I do not remember ever feeling more profoundly misera ble than I did at that moment. The spot I occupied, from the culinary preparations which were going forwavd, began soon to be invaded by a combination of sa.vory odors, which, in that close atmosphere, was very far from agreeable. To eat, % I felt, would be quite out of the question ; had 1 known, then, the comfort to be derived from tobacco, I should, in all probability, have solaced myself with a pipe ; but that was an anodyne as yet unknown to me. I felt a dejection of spirits and a sense of misery it would be impossible tc FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 179 describe. I wished heartily I had never left home, and I felt so entirely down on my luck, that I would have will ingly exchanged situations with old Joe Harvey, my father's gardener. I was soon, however, aroused from my dreamy reflections by the appearance of supper, simultaneously with which my new associates came tumbling in with some of whom the reader is already acquainted. They were eight in pumber, and, when seated, were quite sufficient to fill the room. . I was introduced in succession to each of them, by my friends of the preceding day, and we soon became on excellent terms. I was let into all the secrets of the mess, down even to the rogueries of the purser. The peculiar idiosyncrasies of 'the captain, as well as of the first lieuten ant, were explained to me in a few graphic touches. My companions addressed themselves at first so vigor ously to the evening repast, that they found but little leis ure for the exercise of their conversational powers. The viands disappeared with a celerity which seemed marvellous. The empty dishes were cleared away, the allowance of grog tvas placed on the festive board, and at length, with one consent, the tongues of the company were unloosed. " I say, old fellow," said a messmate, whom they called Hamilton, " why do they keep secret where we are bound for such a deuce of a mystery ?" " It's no mystery at all. We are to cruise awhile in the Indian Ocean." "Why did Deadeye look so d d important, then, when we talked about it the other day at dinner ?" " That's not it ; I'm in the secret," said the little macke rel-eater, whose name was Ashton. " Holloo, let us hear what the boy has to say. Now then, Ashton, out with it I" " He knows no more than Adam," broke in Hamilton. " Not half so much, perhaps," said Ellis. 180 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, " Do you think old Deadeye knows himself?" suggested another. " I tell you, I know," persisted Ashton. 11 Why the devil don't you tell it, then-?" "Stop his grog until he does," shouted Ellis; and the glass which contained that liquor, whereof Ashton was drinking, was seized upon forthwith. " Now then, out with it, as Mrs. BroVn said to her son when he swallowed a farthing," thundered Arbuthngt, who was the wit of the midshipman's ward. " We're going to hunt down the Malay pirates," said Ash ton, compelled by this powerful process to reveal his secret. " Who told you that, Spooney ?" "My uncle heard it from a friend, who has a connection with the Admiralty." " The Admiralty be d d ; give him back his grog ; he knows nothing about it." " I thought I heard Captain Deadeye whispering to my father somerhing about China," mildly suggested I, break ing silence for the first time. " That's nearer the mark, somewhat," said Hamilton. " What's the difference between the Chinese and the Malays, I should like to know ?" said the little mackerel- eater, who, having swallowed at a single draught the ent>re of his grog, had now regained his confidence. " Ashton, were you ever at school?" "To be sure I was." " Were you ever flogged?" " Generally speaking, about once a week." " Then they should have done it once a day, and you might have known something ; as it is, Heaven help you I you are little better than a donkey." " Poor devil ! don't bully him so infernally," Hamilton said, smiling -kindly on the benighted midshipman. FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 181 " What sort of a fellow is Morris, the first lieutenant does any one know anything about him ?" inquired one of my messmates. " Don't speak so loud, or he may happen to hear you. He's on deck with old Deadeye, looking out for squalls : I saw him as I came down." " I don't know, I never saw him in my life before until I met him at dinner ; he seems a very good-natured sort of muff.". " He's a Scotchman," said Hamilton. " The deuce he is ; I don't like that ; I sailed with a Sawney once, and he was next door to a brute." " Morris looks like a tartar." " So does his wife she dined at Deadeye's." "Wife ! what business has a lieutenant with a wife ? I should like to be informed of that." " She had red hair, and eyes like a ferret, and put me altogether in mind of a dose of Epsom salts." A roar of laughter followed this sally, in the midst of which the door opened, and the fortunate proprietor of this exquisite object of wedded endearment put his head into the room. " Less noise if you please, gentlemen ; Captain Deadeye is extremely surprised at such a disturbance." " Has he heard us, do you think ?" whispered Hamilton, as the door closed upon the first lieutenant. " Of course he has ; he is easy in his mind, at any rate, in one respect." " And what may that be ?" "Why, that you are not in love with his wife." " No ; my affections are unalterably plighted to ano ther." "Who may she be?" " HI tell you if you won't try to cut me out." 182 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, " Certainly not." " I'm afraid of you." "What, is the fair creature on board ?" "I wish she was." " How, then, can I interfere with your prospects, most cautious Paddy?" " It's Julia Deadeye." " What ! the little girl who squints ?" " She doesn't squint, and she'll have ten thousand pounds. I'll marry her when I return retire from the service, and keep a pack of hounds." "You had better learn -to sail first ; do you remember our excursion to Hampstead ?" "What happened?" inquired Ellis. " He rode over a respectable elderly lady, and he shortly afterwards broke the horse's- knees." I have recorded this conversation, not from any exagge rated notion of its importance, but because it affords an average sample of our daily topics of discussion. Of my messmates, the only one for whom I felt, upon putting a question, I could conceive any feeling akin to regard, was Hamilton. His appearance was singularly prepossessing. He was tall and rather strongly built ; his chiselled features, flowing, light brown hair, and graceful figure, would of themselves have arrested my attention ; but what made the greatest impression upon me, was a good-humored and ge nial expression, which indicated the kindness of his nature. We spent the evening pleasantly enough together, but I was not sorry when bed-time arrived. Hamilton showed me how to get into my hammock, and laughed heartily when he saw me rolling round and tumble out on the other side ; by his assistance I contrived to regain my position, when sleep soon came to steal away my wretchedness ; and I wakened the next morning, thinking I was still at Heath- FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 183 field Hall. When I went on deck, I found the weather thick and squally, and through the cold, miserable haze of a November day, I saw the Needle Rocks, the high cliffs at the back of the Isle of Wight, far in the distance, and re ceding gradually until they became a mere outline : all the noise and hurry of departure had subsided into the reality of a trackless expanse of sea. From that time forth I began to pay strict attention to learning the details of my duty. I studied drawing and navigation, and read eagerly everything I could lay my hands on, that had any bearing on my profession. I soon acquired the favor of the first lieutenant, before I had been many weeks on board, by the strict attention I paid to the little duties he gave me to perform. I had been put into a watch and stationed in the foretop, and quartered at the foremost guns on the main deck. Although I had been told by the youngsters that Mr. Morris was a bearish, surly, and villainous Scotchman, I never experienced any thing but kindness from him ; his manners, even when under the strongest excitement, were uniformly those of a gentle man, and he was always ready to impart to me such informa tion as he possessed upon such affairs. With the second in command, however, I was not so fortunate ; his sole delight appeared to be in inflicting every possible species of annoy ance upon those who were so unfortunate as to be placed under his control. He was of a nature naturally mean ; and although he had bowed and fawned himself into the good graces of the captain, boy as I was, I had little diffi culty in perceiving that neither with my messmates, nor with the crew, was he by any means a favorite. 184 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, CHAPTER I Y. MY FIKST ADVENTURE. I MUST leave to the imagination of my readers the suffer ings which, for the first few days, I underwent. It was a considerable period before I obtained the use of what are technically called my sea legs ; and as to eating, Lord bless me ! the recollection of my endeavors to swallow the salt beef and potatoes haunts me to this day. Long after the first terrible sensation had passed, my aversion to food still continued. Whether it was the earliness of the hour, or the disagreeable sights and smells by which I was assailed, which usually act as a check upon fill appetites fresh from shore, I shall not pause to determine ; but it was not with out great difficulty I at last prevailed upon myself to swal low a morsel. The beverage was not less unpalatable than the food ; the black-strap, an awful mixture, tasting like sloe-juice and logwood, was only worse than the grog ; and whilst my messmates were imbibing their potations, I re flected upon my new situation, not without considerable re gret. I remember well how, notwithstanding all my enthu siasm, and the aspirations after fame and adventure which had warmed my early life, my heart failed me as I contrast ed my position with that which I had renounced. When I remembered the old house, with its light and pleasant aspect, the summer woods waving round it, and the perfume of the fresh flowers coming in through the open windows, and con trasted those scenes with the gloomy hole in which I was cabined, cribbed and confined with the rough uneducated men, whose very language was a new dialect to me with my noisy companions uttering their opinions upon all man ner of subjects, of which I knew nothing; when I con FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 185 trasted all this with my old home, and my former associ ates, I must confess I felt a faintness of heart which was most oppressive. Since these days, years have rolled away, yet my early sufferings are still fresh in my memory ; nor have the varied scenes through which I have passed oblite rated my recollection of them in the very least. I made up my mind, however, and nerved myself, as well as I could, for endurance. A midshipman's berth is about the last place on earth suited to the indulgence of vain regrets. I spent much of my time on deck. Scenes of adventure be gan once more to come back upon my mind ; and now that we were on the broad bosom of the ocean, the regret for all I had left behind, and the doubts and "misgivings as to my chances of success in the life I had entered upon, began to give place to brighter, hopes. Our life was, for some time, unvaried in its daily routine. In time I got accustomed to the night watch, which at first I found rather a severe trial. Gentlemen, who live at home at ease, and never leave their comfortable beds, can have very little notion of the immense discomfort in having to leave one's hammock at midnight, to shiver for four mortal hours on deck in the wet and cold. To this, however, like the rest, I soon became inured by practice. The weather, after some time, set in very stormy. A stiff south-wester was blowing, and as I paced the deck, during the night watch, my reveries were interrupted by a sudden splash, and a cry of " man overboard." " Down with the buoy, and pipe the cutter away," sang out the second lieutenant. The order thus given was promptly executed. The cut ter was lowered, and I jumped into it ; not a moment was lost in getting out the oars, and lighted by the buoy, whose lurid glare fell upon the- heaving water, we pulled rapidly towards the object of our search ; but, notwithstanding all our exertions, so great had been the way upon the ship, 186 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, that some time elapsed before we could come up with our beacon light. We shouted out the man's name, but all was silent. " Is he a good swimmer ?" I inquired. " Lord love ye, sir, Bob Smith can swim like a duck, no fear of him." I thought I heard a faint cry -some distance to windward. " Give way, my lads, I hear him on the starboard," sung out the quartermaster, whose ear had caught the same sound. " Hark, sir ! that is the captain's voice ; I hear him hail ing us." " Have you found him ?" sung out Captain Deadeye, who, it would appear, had been roused by the tumult. "No, sir!" " You have got too far, I hear him on the larboard pull now with a will." The boat's crew pulled like devils towards the spot indi cated we rested to listen, but not the faintest sound, save the plashing of the waves and the drip of the oars, could be distinguished. " Hist 1" exclaimed every one almost simultaneously, as a faint wailing moan came floating on the waters from a spot apparently quite close at hand. We strained every nerve and soon reached it ; but we could discover nothing. Again we rested, and floated over the surface of the waves, whose dark ridges, tipped with foam, shone like silver in the moon light ; at one moment we thought we heard the same cry, but it proved to be only the wind whistling off the blade of one of our upturned oars. " By jingo ! there he is," sung out the coxswain. And there no mistake this time, we heard a sound like some one swimming. " Call him by name," I said, my anxiety roused to the very uttermost. FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 187 " Smith ! Bob Smith ! hilloa, my boy, hilloa !" sang out the coxswain, with the voice of a Stentor. There was no reply. "It is all up,' 7 the mate said, resting on his oars ; " had we not better make for the ship ?" " Hark ! there it is again." " It is, by G !" said the man who pulled the stroke oar. " I hear nothing/' said the coxswain. " ISTo more do I," said the stroke oar. Whether it was fancy or not I am unable to say, but the voice of the last speaker seemed to my unpractised ear tremulous with some suppressed emotion. I looked at his resolute face, tanned by exposure to the sup and wind, but could detect nothing in its expression more "than usual. It flashed upon me then all that I had heard of the super stition of sailors ; and I thought some nonsense of this kind might be weighing on the man's mind. " Now, for another pull ;" I said, " we may do better this time." "You ain't a going to spend the night floating about here, sir, I hope," said the coxswain, touching his hat. " Afraid of Bogy, are you ?" replied the stroke oar, who was a native of the Emerald Isle. " Obey your orders ; we won't lose a chance, so long as 1 think one remains ; put her head round and try to wind ward ; if the man is so good a swimmer as you say, we shall have time yet." The men bent to their oars, but, it was quite evident, no longer with the same inclination as heretofore ; some mysterious influence, likely one superior to mine, was at work upon them. " Here he is at last, I see him, close under the bow ;" and, in my anxiety to clutch at what seemed the object of our search, I nearly tumbled overboard. 8* 188 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, Alas ! it was only the poor fellow's hat, which, upon be ing lifted into the boat, was found to contain nothing but an old handkerchief, stuffed tightly into the crown. We had not more than sufficient time to examine 'the contents of the hat, when our attention was attracted by what, beyond all question, seemed to be the missing seaman swimming rapidly towards us. " Cheer up, my brave fellow, we j ll have you on board in an instant !" pushing an oar towards him, as I thought. Suddenly, however, the sound of swimming ceased, and the oar which I had extended no sooner touched the water than we were covered with a dash of spray which nearly swamped us ; the boat vibrated from stem to stern, and for an instant I thought it was going to pieces. Not a soul spoke ; the men clutched eagerly at the sides, as if to steady the cutter, as she rocked to and fro ; their eyes were staring with terror ; big drops of perspiration were standing out like beads upon their corded foreheads. " God of Heaven ! that accounts for poor Bob Smith," said the coxswain. " What is it ?" I inquired, as I looked. "A shark! look, there he goes;" and as I looked, I saw a dark object going rapidly through the water, near the surface, in a direction parallel to ours. I gave an involuntary shudder, and enjoined silence to the men, whose fears seemed to have got the better of their reason. "Ah 1 no ; we must pull for our lives now, if we would ever reach the ship," said one of them. " D n her eyes I where is she ? if she ha'n't left us in. the lurch, after all, my name's not Brown/' said the cox swain. I jumped up and looked around ; but there, far as the eye could reach, lay one wide, trackless expanse of sea, bro- FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 189 ken only by the crests of the waves, as they gleamed in the wan moonlight ; not a mast nor a sail, for miles around, was visible against the horizon. " Now, then, for it, my men, with a will ; unless you choose to spend the night here, you must pull for it." "Ay, indeed," broke in the coxswain, "for there's a lub ber down there will make acquaintance with some of us before very long." I looked, as the man pointed, and it. was with difficulty I refrained from an exclamation of horror, as I saw moving slowly beside us, just under the surface of the water, the same dark object a long track of phosphorescent light fol lowed like a gleaming meteor in its wake. Gracious Hea ven, it was a shark ! At this crisis, the wind, which had blown in fitful gusts, began to fall ; the moon, too, was overcast, and to add to our embarrassment, the men seemed by no means inclined to obey the orders of one whom they evidently considered a greenhorn, whose rashness had led them into their present peril. " Silence I" I shouted ; " pull steadily and together, or I'll report every man of you, when I get on board." " And when '11 that be, I should like to know ? We'll be aboard of Davy Jones's locker, afore long, I'm thinking," said the stroke oar in a surly tone. Scarcely were the words out of his mouth, when a sudden jet of light streamed forth in the distance, followed by a loud report, which came booming heavily across the waters. " Hurrah, the ship !" burst for.th with a hearty cheer from the boat's crew recalling them to their duty in an instant the men pulled steadily for a considerable period, in the direction whence the sound proceeded ; but although our exertions were indefatigable, and we were actually streaming with perspiration, we seemed to approach no 190 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OK, nearer to the object of our pursuit ; nothing was to be seen but an apparently trackless expanse of sea and sky. Sud denly, another loud, rushing noise, like the roar of a cata ract, was heard to windward. "Another gun," thought I; but the water, which had hitherto been so smooth, began to undulate with a sudden motion, and a terrific hurricane, driving before it a sheet of foam, came driving after us. There was little need for the oars now ; we were swept before the tempest as you see a withered leaf blown about in autumn. There was nothing to be done but submit quietly to whatever end Fate had in store for us. The spray was dashed in clouds of foam thick enough to obscure anything around. The ocean appeared to seethe like a boiling cauldron, while the heavens over head loomed darkly down in one thick impenetrable pall. The boat was already half full of water, which it required incessant exertion to keep baling out. I fully expected that we should go to the bottom every instant. This state of painful suspense was too agonizing to endure much long er, and I felt it would soon be terminated one way or other. I looked from the roaring water to the gloomy sky, and as I thought of the foe who was following in our lee, like the sailor in the Tempest, I would have sacrificed all my hopes of future glory for an acre of barren heath and safety. The faces of the crew, who had braved a hundred times battle and wreck, were haggard with fear ; each man seemed cer- .ain that his hour was come ; and as for myself, I am not ashamed to own, that in that terrible moment I breathed a silent ejaculation to Heaven for mercy. The clouds, which had been so long dashing down upon us, now burst ; a peal of thunder, that was absolutely deafening, followed ; the very flood-gates of heaven appeared to open ; the rain fell in torrents ; the wind abated, and from the clouds, as they were rent asunder, far up in the serene sky, the moon shone EUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 191 forth in dazzling brilliancy, pouring a flood of serene light upon this scene of terror. No poet or musing lover ever welcomed that glorious light with more heartfelt joy and gratitude, for it revealed a sigjit for which we were little prepared. About half a mile distant, with studding sails set, and her canvas gleaming, like silver, in the moonlight, the Ida was rapidly bearing down upon us. A flash broke from her bows, and a loud report came booming over the waves. The boat's crew replied with a hearty cheer ; and I felt then, for the first time, that the bitterness of death was indeed past. CHAPTER V. AN ENEMY. I PASS over a considerable interval of time, which slipped by, unruffled by any incident save the monotonous routine of daily duty, to which I gradually became accustomed. After a most stormy voyage of several weeks, which strained the ship considerably, and entailed upon us the loss of some spars and sails, we found ourselves in the In dian Sea. . Our destination was no longer a secret ; we were to join the squadron engaged in hostile operations against China. We were passing through the Straits of Sunda, with a favorable breeze, when, just as the sun was going down, we caught sight of two small sails in the hori zon. A thick fog coming on shortly afterwards, no more was thought of the matter. I had the middle watch. A light, drizzling rain was falling, and the ship was close- hauled, carrying royals. The men had made up their minds for a quiet night, during which reefing or furling would be unnecessary. Most of them were asleep wherever they could stow themselves away, and, I am sorry to confess, 1Q 2 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, is following their bad example, and dreaming, if I remem- " ' Fire ! robbery ! murder ! murder !' shouted Mrs. Nip per, accentuating the last syllable to give it greater force. "'Thieves! halloo! let me at 'em ! where are they?' shouted Tom "- ' Here ! this way ! I have you now, you villain I' sung 272 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, out old Mr. Griffiths. Tom Feather Vane proceeded ac cordingly, without taking any further notice of Mrs. Nipper, in the direction of the voice. " 'Happy to see you, sir ; help me to hold this ruffian. I'm quite blown ' " ' Hold him with pleasure. Has he been stealing the spoons ?' inquired Tom Feather Yane. " ' Spoons ! no my new brass knocker. We'll bring him to the police. I caught him with it in his pocket.' " ' That we will, by Jingo !' shouted Tom, seizing hold of the innocent Jones by the collar. " 'Now then, hold him tight until I fetch a light. Hal loa ! Mrs. Nipper ! What are you about up there? a can dle bring a candle.' " 'You vagabond ! You come about gentlemen's houses stealing their knockers ! I'll give you a lesson you won't forget in a hurry come in here, you shocking reprobate !' and opening the kitchen door, Mr. Feather Yane pushed in his captive, while the enraptured Mr. Griffiths proceeded in quest of a light*. " ' Punch his head with a poker if he attempts to stir, shouted Mr. Griffiths from the top of the stairs. "'You nincompoop !' said Tom, shaking the bewildered Jones ; ' why don't you make yourself scarce ? Do you see that open window ? What is it there for, you idiot ? If I were to let you go now, do you think you could jump through it ?' " ' I'll try,' said the man, scratching his head. . " ' Be off, then, like a lamplighter, and keep your own counsel,' said Tom, letting him loose. " Thus released, Jones, the follower, without waiting to thank his captor, sprang through the open window ; while Tom shouted as loud as he could bawl, ' Stop him ! stop FUN, FRIGATES. AND YACHTING. 273 him ! the villain has knocked me over. He's off I Stop him ! stop him !' " ' You don't mean to tell me you have let the rascal go 1' inquired the old gentleman, as, candle in hand, he reap peared on the scene of action. " ' Confound him !' replied Tom ; ' the devil couldn't hold such a fellow ; the very instant, sir, you left me alone with him, he gave me a thump on the head, which quite stunnec me, and then he bolted like shot.' " ' Blow on the head, my dear sir ? I am really sincere ly concerned you should have suffered in your anxiety to serve me. But, bless me ! Why yes, you are actually bleeding !' " ' Oh, it is nothing of any consequence. 7 (Tom had got the hurt in his previous rencontre at the street door.) " ' It is of consequence we must get it looked to at once. Here, Mrs. Nipper deuce take the woma-n, where is she ? Mrs. Nipper, I say, some hot water and towels be quick. If ever I find him on my premises again, I'll have him skinned alive. The second knocker in a week. Ugh 1 the villain ! Now, pray, my dear sir, do let me look at your wound/ " Tom having submitted his head to the inspection of Mr. Griffiths, endeavored to assume as solemn an expression of countenance as he could. Mrs. Nipper entering with a basin of hot water, no sooner saw him, than she began to scream violently. " ' Deuce take the woman, what is she at ? Did you never see blood before ? Run up-stairs and bring me some sticking-plaster. Be quick, if you please, Mrs. Nipper/ said the energetic old gentleman. " The cook departed, but soon returned to say that she could not find the article of which she had gone in quest. " * Stupid Nipper, you seem to have lost any little sense 12* 214 SWELL LIFE AT SEA ; OR, you ever had ; give me the candle and I'll fetch it myself, and off went Mr. Griffiths, to look for the plaster, leaving his domestic face to face with the object which had inspired her with such aversion and horror. " ' Now, don't look so frightened, my dear friend,' said Tom Feather Yane, ' here's something to buy you a new ribbon ;' and as he spoke he slipped a sovereign into the lady's hand. " ' Lawk, my good gracious !' " ' Never mind your good gracious I have let your lover off, as you see say nothing about it, and I'll make your for tune, you gipsy.' "How this feat was to be accomplished, Tom Feather Yane, who was always very ready, at any sudden emergen cy, with vague promises, never paused to determine. He laid his finger on his lips ' Mum 1 is the word, Mrs. Nip per,' he said ; 'you may trust me, my dear/ " The approach of the master of the house rendered any further conversation impossible, so Mrs. Nipper slipped the coin into her bosom, and assisted her master in the surgical operations which he proceeded to perform upon his interest ing patient. " When Tom Feather Yane was washed and brushed, covered with sticking-plaster, and made as presentable as under existing circumstances it was possible to make him, he was invited to remain to supper as a matter of course, and like a clever fellow as he was, he made so good a use of this opportunity, that a very few weeks seemed to establish him as a regular visitor of the family ; and it is somewhat remarkable, that from the period of ths t occurrence, there never was another knocker stolen from the hall-door of the Griffiths' mansion ; a circumstance which Tom, with inimita ble sang froid and nonchalance, attributed to the personal prowess of Mr. Griffiths, in his rencontre with the felonious FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 275 assailant of his premises. Such was the manner in which the lieutenant obtained an introduction ; and it was at the petit souper which succeeded to the affray, that his eye was most agreeably refreshed by the sight of a very charming young lady, who, what with tittering and blushing at the comical picture he presented with the right side of his head covered with large stripes of sticking-plaster, and trembling for the safety of her beloved parent, formed one of the most enchanting pictures of youthful grace and loveliness he thought he had ever had the good fortune to behold. He envied the old gentleman as his daughter threw her arm round his pudgy neck with a loving pressure, and felt inclined to defy him to mortal combat on the spot ; but as such a rencontre might have interfered with his future opera tions, Tom restrained his angry feelings at seeing a father kissed by his daughter, and made himself so uncommonly agreeable, that he produced a favorable impression upon both ; so that in an unusually short time from this incident, he had contrived to become the accepted suitor of the young lady, whom he afterwards led to the hymeneal altar." " Bravo ! capital 1" resounded from all sides, when the speaker had concluded. * " And now, my boys, do you think we shall really catch these fellows after all ?" " Impossible to tell, until daylight doth appear." " It's beginning -to appear now, or I am mistaken." " Douse the glim then, and let us have a look out/ 1 The lamp being accordingly extinguished, the gray light of dawning morning streamed in upon the assembled party, who did not by any means appear to so much advantage seen through its medium, as they did by lamp-light. But they donned their various habiliments, and proceeded upon deck tumbling up, as the phrase is, one after another, the companion ladder. The night watch was still on the look- 2T6 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, out, the men for the most part were asleep at their quarters. Neither the captain nor the first lieutenant had of course made their appearance, and the good ship was holding on under a heavy press of sail, the apparently solitary occupant of the vast expanse of sea. " Blow ! blow, thou freshening breeze !" shouted Walter Long ; " blow us to the enemy !" " There don't seem much probability of such a result, as far as I am able to judge," said Hamilton, who was sweep ing the horizon with a glass. " 'No, none can tell what luck may be in store for us before the sun goes down." "Whereabouts were they seen last?" " To the south-west," replied the captain of the watch. " They have out-sailed us, then, and be d d to them !" " Shouldn't think that at all likely ; the fog is still heavy to leeward." "And when it clears off, you think they'll turn up, eh?" " I have no doubt of it, whatever," replied the man, touching his hat. " How many of them were reported due ?" " Only one sail, to any certainty." "Well, one is enough, if we caitonly catch her." "And so we shall with the blessing of Providence," said the captain of the watch. But the daylight which they had all been so anxiously awaiting, although it had now fairly broken, and the rising sun had dispelled the floating mist, did not reveal to the anxious crew the enemy of whom they were in quest. But instead thereof, lay a long stripe, like a thin bank of cloud, floating on the surface of the water, far away in the dis tance, which was soon ascertained to be land, even before the man at the mast-head made the usual announcement. The disappointment was deep and universal. There could be no question that the strange sail had succeeded, under FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 277 cover of the night, in rejoining the remainder of the squad' ron in the harbor of Brest. Deep and loud were the rail ings against the ill-fortune which had befallen the Juno in allowing such a prize to escape ; but there was apparently no help for it, so all hands were piped to breakfast in an exceedingly ill-humor, and the Juno held on upon her course, the land of the French coast becoming every hour more distinctly visible. At length, towards evening, as the ship passed close to the shore, a fine frigate was discovered at anchor under the batteries of Carnantburg. She rode at her anchors, with top-gallants across, her large ensign floating from the peak ; she was evidently the object the Juno had been so long pursuing, and there she was, to all appearance secure from any hostile aggression. The cir cumstance having been duly reported to the skipper, who was not the man to be deterred from any course which seemed to hold out a reasonable prospect of success, he swore he would cut her out. The news soon flew fore and aft. The men swarming at the quarters were not in a hu mor to be balked. Then came all the preparations for this desperate undertaking, for it was well known that the posi-. tion of the frigate was such, that any attempt to cut her out would be attended with a tremendous sacrifice of life. "Well, my boy, which boat do you go in?" inquired Walter Long of a messmate, who was selecting from a bun dle of cutlasses one which seemed the best adapted to his length and strength of arm. " I go in the cutter with Morris ; we lead." " The deuce you do ! you may, too, if you can keep it." " We'll do our best, my boy ; who are you with?" "Oh, I'm in the gig. Brown is with us." " I think Brown looks a little chalky ajaout the gills , hey, don't he, rather ? He is thinking of his little wife and four small children at Gosport, most probably." 278 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, "Ah ! I didn't know he had any responsibilities of that kind." "Yes, he has ; and serious ones they are when a fellow is going into such an action." " Of course ! of course I think this blade seems the stoutest : its temper shall be tried presently." Towards nightfall everything was in readiness, and at a given signal, the boats, duly manned, in perfect silence left the sir p. Such was the ardor of the men, that they strove, one di /ision against the other, to near the frigate. In this effort to be first, there was displayed less discretion than enthusiasm one would have thought they were rowing at a boat-race. And at length, the splashing of the oars in all probability had attracted the notice of the frigate ; for a blue-light was thrown up, and weighing anchor, she ran in cloBe alongside of the batteries, where she moored. But the more the danger, the more sailors feel stimulated. The removal of the frigate did not cause the expedition for a moment to falter ; their hands and hearts were alike ready. There was not a sound heard save the measured dip of the muffled oars as they fell swiftly in the water. The boats were now close together, and rapidly approach ing the object of attack. The first halted for a moment, and the first lieutenant standing up, addressed his crew. " Now, my lads," he said, " we have a stiff piece of work before us ; but the greater the danger, the greater the honor. To bring that frigate out from the teeth of them 1 batteries will be no easy piece of work, I promise you. You, Bill Sykes, are a smart foretop man ; let us see how you can loosen the frigate's foretop sail, so as to catch any breath of wind, and we shall have a stiff one presently. You need not be particular in casting off the gasket ; a sharp knife and an easy conscience will do the work. Don't stand on stepping-stones, and in the meantime we'll see what FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 279 we can do with the fellows below. So now, my lads, one single cheer, and then you'll follow me." A hearty cheer, that seemed to ring from the very bosom of the deep, was the immediate reply, and the boats dashed on to the attack, the cutter leading the way. But just at this moment a sheet of flame burst from the frigate, followed by a crashing volley of grape and canister, which taking effect upon the second boat, stove it into atoms. This salutation, enough to have damped the cour age of any men, however determined, was received with a fresh cheer, and casting on their grappling irons, the assail ants prepared to board. But this was no easy task. The French, armed at all points, presented a bristling front of boarding pikes and cutlasses, while a close and well-directed fire of musketry was kept up from the poop. Nothing could exceed the gallantry of the assailants, but they were driven back with great loss, in spite of their clinging cat-like to the ropes ; while the enemy, seeing the failure of the first attempt to gain a footing, shouted like demons with rage and triumph. Never since man first en gaged his fellow was there displayed on both sides more desperate courage. The fire-arms of the British sailors were now perfectly useless, anc^ armed with the cutlass and boarding-pike only, they persevered in their attempt with undaunted determination. The batteries had now opened, and although the darkness of the night prevented them from aiming with any certainty, the shot fell like hail in the water. Undismayed by the furious fire from them and from the frigate, undeterred by the forest of pikes which bristled from her bows, and the loss of so many a gallant comrade, the English sailors again and again rushed to the assault, and at length succeeded in gaining a footing upon the fore castle. "Hurrah for the first aloft 1" shouted Sykes, who, cleap 280 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, ing a path with his cutlass, sprang upon the rigging, and clambering aloft, was soon in the neighborhood of the fore- top-sail yard. But having made good his way, the gallant seaman found an unexpected obstacle : the gear was lashed close along the yard, but a clasp-knife, judiciously applied, soon set it free ; and so expeditiously was this accomplished, and so well did the seamen stationed to loose the sail per form their part of the work, that in less than five minutes after the period of gaining the deck, the frigate had her three topsails and courses cut adrift, and the sails dropping down ready to be sheeted home. The sound of the falling sails was the first intimation of his danger to the enemy. So long as they continued under the batteries, they had lit tle ground for apprehension ; but once drifting out to sea, with a desperate enemy on board, they felt their position would be hopeless. Everything now depended upon the wind. Meanwhile the struggle upon deck proceeded. It was literally hand to hand and foot to foot ; the cutlass and the boarding-pike against the sabre and the bayonet. At first the French stood their ground with admirable determina tion, and the assailants were repulsed with serious loss ; but the vigor of their attack at* last carried everything before it ; and although the deck, contested inch by inch as it was, continued swept by a heavy fire of musketry, it was soon in the possession of the British seamen. At this crisis a voice was heard to exclaim, " She goes ahead now 1" The mo tion of the ship was perceptible to all on board ; and then, high over the crashing of the shot, and the shrieks of th'e~ wounded, rose in tones of thunder the British cheer. But the firing from the ramparts still continued with unabated vigor, and it was quite evident that the soldiery, seeing the vessel had been taken, were determined if possible to de- FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 281 stroy her, even at the sacrifice of all on board. The wind, however, increased a few minutes more, and the vessel, with her crew and her gallant captors, would be beyond the reach of further injury. The crisis was one of intense ex citement. On the forecastle stood Walter Long ; how he had contrived to escape destruction seemed miraculous, for he was in the first boat, which had been stove to pieces. He had fought his way to the post of eminence which he 'now occupied, surrounded by a few of his comrades. The acquisition of this position had been an achievement by no means easy of performance. As he led the way from the quarter-gallery, he found his progress impeded, in conse quence of the door having been barricaded. All attempts to demolish this obstacle having proved in vain, he clam bered up to the taffrail, and from thence succeeded in gam ing the quarter-deck, where the fight was thickest. Sweep ing his cutlass round his head, and cheering on his comrades, he had fought his way gallantly to the spot. And now the breeze springing up, the sails were trimmed, and the frigate drawing fast from the land, was soon out of the reach of any further mischief. The exultation at the success of this gallant enterprise would be less difficult to imagine than to describe. The captured frigate was towed alongside, and taken into the nearest English port. The brilliant exploit we have thus recorded, found praise from every lip ; it was one of the most daring and well-executed naval attacks since the cut ting out of the Hermione. The loss was, however, consid erable ; fifteen men had been killed' on the part of the as sailants, and nearly thirty severely wounded. For some days after the engagement, the crew of the Juno were busily en gaged in endeavoring to repair the damages which had been sustained from the shot of the batteries by the French 282 SWELL LIFE AT SEA, ETC. vessel ; new sails had to be bent ; the gunwales, which were considerably torn by shot, to be replaced ; and many other repairs effected, before the vessel could with safety be pro nounced fit for sea. Fitted for sea, however, in due time, she became ; and now, under another name, manned by an other crew, and with a different ensign floating from her poop, she ploughs the waves, a very neat and unexception able English cruiser. AST AQUATIC EXPEDITION GIBRALTAR TO BARCELONA, SOME years since no matter how many, but it was in the month of May I found myself (located, as the Yan kees say) for four-and-twenty hours at the Ragged Staff Guard at Gibraltar, and, during my tour of duty, was visited by my friend B , who mentioned his having obtained twelve months' leave of absence, and his intention of pro ceeding in his yacht to Carthagena, and thence through France to England, provided any officer would accompany him to whom might be intrusted the charge of the craft on her homeward voyage. Yachting and boating are favorite pastimes with the military denizens of the Rock, and they who possess a taste for aquatic pursuits, have ample induce ment to gratify their predilection, for the scene on a calm summer's evening, when the noble bay reflects on its un ruffled surface the numerous vessels resting on its bosom, and the lofty Rock, with its batteries, houses, orange trees, geraniums and acacias, with the distant mountains of Spain and Africa, are bathed in the light of a brilliant sunset, is sufficient to win to exertion even the most indolent and apa- thetior" WheX on the other hand, strong south-westerly 284 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, breezes or the more dangerous "Levanter" prevail, gigs manned by adventurous spirits may be seen poised .on the crests or descending into the trough of the accompanying heavy sea, whilst here and there trim little yachts, stagger ing under a press of canvas, the flag of England fluttering from their peaks, proclaim their owners sons of that nation whose " March is on the mountain wave, whose home is on the deep." Of that gallant and warm-hearted band who were then the chief promoters of boating parties, of pic-nics, and of fun and merriment of every kind, but few now remain. Some, chafing at a life of inactivity in our own service, joined the ranks of the British Legion, and at St. Sebastian " foremost fighting fell." Some have withered under the blasting in fluence of West Indian yellow fever ; the bones of others are bleaching on the banks of the distant Sutlej ; a few have achieved honors and renown ; some still serve on, hoping for opportunities of distinguishing themselves which may never arrive ; and others, passing into private life, have been absorbed and lost sight of in the great vortex of ever- changing society. It may at the first moment seem strange that B should have expressed doubts as to any one joining him on the cruise he proposed, but a future description of the little " Midge" will somewhat account for his skepticism. Think ing this would be an excellent opportunity for seeing more of Spain than I had hitherto been enabled to accomplish, I immediately expressed my readiness for the trip and there being, moreover, just sufficient risk in the business to render it what is termed a " sporting undertaking," served as an additional incentive to make the trial ; and on Lieut. K also agreeing to join the party, nothing remained but to apply for leave (which was granted) and to make the iie FUN, FKIGATES, AND YACHTING. 285 cessary preparations for the voyage. As none of us had ever been eastward of Malaga, and were totally ignorant of the coast, Admiral, then Captain S , was consulted as to the prudence of the undertaking, who thereupon in formed us " we should all be drowned." This opinion (in conformity with the perverseness of human nature) only strengthened our determination to proceed ; but hearing that the governor, the late Sir W. H , had declared he would not permit us to start upon so wild an expedition, we procured bills of health for Cadiz as well as for Carthagena, and thus in some degree blinded the authorities as to our real intentions. On the afternoon of Sunday, the second of June, the anchor was weighed, and by the united assist ance of the current and a strong south-westerly breeze, the Rock was soon left far astern. The singular fact that while at its upper extremity the Mediterranean receives a con stant supply from the Black Sea by a current setting into it from the Dardanelles, and at the lower by a current setting through the straits of Gibraltar from the Atlantic, no per ceptible influence is exercised upon it by this necessarily vast accession of water, has been the subject of much con sideration amongst the learned, and various theories have, been propounded to account for this remarkable circum stance. That the upper influx is counteracted by an under efflux can scarcely be doubted, for that the superfluous water could be carried off by evaporation alone bears upon it the stamp of impossibility. Behold us now fairly afloat, and a description of the boat, destined for several weeks to be our home, which gallantly weathered many a gale and bore us over some hundreds of miles, may not here be out of place. Of about five tons burthen, and cutter-rigged with a mizen, her capabilities of steerage were for her size considerable. Aft was an open space in the deck for the helmsman, which could be closed at pleasure. Round this 286 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, (in lockers for the purpose) were wines and provisions., The cabin contained two sleeping berths for ourselves, and opening' from it was accommodation for the crew. Ledges of about five inches in height ran fore and aft of the berths, to keep the mattresses in their places, and a plank resting upon them, served as a bench when taking our meals, our heads when thus seated being within a few inches of the deck. In calm weather the frames of the hatches were raised upon iron stanchions, which added much to our comfort. A small table slung with cords from the deck could be unshipped at pleasure ; drawers for knives, forks, and plates, a copper washing basin, a kettle, a coffee pot, a couple of saucepans, a frying-pan, and two " braseros" formed our list of indispensables. The commissariat con sisted of seven days' water, salt provisions, a portion of the common red wine of the country, biscuits, tea, sugar, coffee, cheese, &c. The stores were three anchors, one chain, and two hempen cables, iron ballast, spare sails, &c. Two small guns forward, and two aft, for signals, working upon pivots, were, when at sea, usually placed below. This cargo, added to our three selves and the crew, (two men and a boy, the latter working his way to Santa Pola,) brought the yacht so low in the water that by leaning over the side we could reach it with our hands. The party was divided into three watches, one of ourselves being always in charge, and such other arrangements were made as were considered most conducive to our safety and comfort. The fresh breeze with which we had commenced our voyage gradually deserted us, and we had the extreme felicity (?) of tumbling about in a heavy short sea during the greater part of the night; but the following morning the friendly south-wester again came to our aid, and after speaking II . M. ten-gun brig Philomel, (with the officers of which we were well . acquainted, owing to her being on the Gibraltar sta- FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING 287 tion,) cruising under easy canvas, anchored in Malaga Bay about half-past twelve o' clock. The health-boat "coming alongside and the officer in charge admitting us to pratique, a shore-boat was put in requisition to land us, the " Midge" not being sufficiently large to carry even a " dingy" for our own use. We first paid our respects to Mr. Mark, the consul, and then proceeded to the authorities, whose duty it was to examine and sign the cutter's papers. The town of Malaga, situated in the province of Gran.ada, and divided by the river Guadelmedina into two parts, presents, with the ruins of its ancient Moorish castle, a fine appearance from the sea ; the mountains which surround it forming a splendid back ground to the picture. The Cathedral was the first point of attention ; one of its towers only was completed, but from the other is a magnificent view of the adjacent country. The roof, supported by lofty pillars, has but little beauty to recommend it, but the choir is curiously carved and con tains a number of stalls. Of the tone of the organs, two in number, we had no opportunity of judging. Great efforts were made to impress us with a sense of the unrivalled mag nificence of the building, but our expectations in this par ticular were grievously disappointed. The Alameda is a beautiful promenade, planted with trees and surrounded with handsome houses. It is the favorite resort of the fair sex, and the Malagenas, equalling if not excelling their sis ters of Cadiz in those attractions which captivate the sterner sex, here make sad havoc with the hearts of their attendant caballeros. Several parties of them were slowly pacing up and down, and certes the magnificent eyes and voluptuous forms of some among them were amply sufficient to have roused the passions of far colder blooded mortals than are the inhabitants of this fiery clime. Ttfe streets were narrow and crowded with people, some sitting, some standing, some 288 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, stretched at full length on the ground, some slowly saunter ing, but all apparently revelling in idleness, and affording by their picturesque costumes and lazy attitudes interesting studies to the observant artist. " Torijos " and his companions, some fifty in number, and amongst them an Irish gentleman named Boyd, were shot on the beach in December, 1831, by General Moreno, for having endeavored to procure a rising in favor of the " Con stitution," their capture being effected by a system of treach ery seldom heard of amongst civilized nations. It is a mat ter of surprise, that, about to embark on a perilous service, and as Spaniards well acquainted with the proverbial deceit- fulness of their fellow-countrymen, they so easily fell into the trap prepared for them " Quos Deus vult perdere prius dementat." With Mr. Boyd some of us had been slightly acquainted, and this circumstance added to the interest we took in the scene of the catastrophe. Having been deluded by false representations on the part of the government au thorities that the soldiery at Malaga were disaffected, and that two guarda costas would join and escort the party on their voyage, Torijos and his companions were, in an evil hour, induced to start on their ill-starred expedition. The government cruisers, instead of proving friendly, drove them on shore at a point where troops were prepared for their hostile reception ; when taking refuge in a house, they were compelled to surrender, and soon after shot without trial. A letter was sent, by Mr. Boyd, to a friend at Gibraltar, composed a few hours before his execution, expressing calm and manly resignation to his fate, stating that a priest had endeavored to make him abjure his religion, and requesting the person to whom the communication was addressed, to declare publicly, in case doubts should be expressed on the subject, that he died a firm adherent to the Protestant faith. Embarking in the evening, we sailed with the rising of FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 289 the land wind, the night being very dark, save when vivid lightning shed its momentary blaze over the far horizon. During the middle watch the storm was in all its grandeur, and the scene was awfully impressive. The electric fluid leaped from cloud to cloud, the thunder crashed above our heads, while the phosphoric light which gleamed from the water, as with a steady breeze the cutter ploughed her way through the swelling billows, cast a ghastly hue upon her canvas during the intervals of pitchy darkness. This tur moil of the elements gradually ceased, and morning at length shed its cold gray light upon the restless waves. There is something inexpressibly cheerful in the advent of approach ing day ; to behold it dispelling night, and lifting itself, as it were, from out the ever moving waters. Objects hitherto indistinct become gradually more and more visible, a golden tinge irradiates the sky, and clouds of brilliant coloring her ald the approach of the great luminary who diffuses light and life o'er all created nature. During the early part of the day we anchored abreast of a small village called Nerja, and going ashore, paid our respects to the Padre, with a view of obtaining from him any information that might prove useful. He received us with politeness, and sent for some fishermen to give us directions as to our future navi gation along the coast. There being nothing worthy of ob servation at Nerja, and finding ourselves objects of unpleas ant curiosity to the inhabitants, who appeared imbued with eastern distrust of strangers, we returned on board the yacht. The heat was intense ; not a cloud obscured the midday sun, whose rays were reflected as by a mirror from the surface of a sea unruffled by the slightest breeze. A white mist, floating over the summits of the mountains, blended earth and sky in indistinct confusion. The tl Midge " riding lazily at her anchor, floating quietly upon the long undulations of a heavy ground swell, combined with the 13 290 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, monotonous roar of the surf breaking upon the adjacent rocks, superinduced a most overpowering feeling of lassitude and distaste for exertion. The hatches being removed, and their frames elevated upon the stanchions, (previously spoken of,) wet sails were laid over all, and a trifling degree of coolness being thus obtained, we followed the example of the natives and resigned ourselves to repose. About 1 P. M. we were again under weigh, a light air just filling the sails, and soon had a fine view of the Apuljarras mountains which extend many miles along the coast. The morning of the fifth brought with it an increasing breeze from the old quarter, the south-west, and our gallant little craft dashed through the water in first rate style. Numerous vessels were sighted during the day, one of which we spoke, and found to be the " Rambler," from Leghorn, bound to Lon don. Towards night, the wind freshening almost to a gale, with a heavy sea, the topmast was struck, the mainsail double reefed, the mizen brailed, jibs were shifted, and the hatches battened down, all hands'remaining on deck whilst we doubled Cape de Gata, a gigantic rock some twenty miles in circumference. Whether arising from any peculiar formation of the coast, I cannot pretend to decide, but cer tain it is that at this particular spot storms are almost inva riably encountered, and the native sailors have a great dis like to its unpleasant neighborhood. Dark clouds driving swiftly across the sky permitted a waning moon to shed its sickly light at intervals upon the waste, of waters ; occa sional flashes of lightning increased the wildness of the pros pect, while far away to leeward the dreaded Cape loomed spectrally in the misty distance. The " Midge," with the wind nearly a-beam, flew merrily over the heaving waves, and quite satisfied us that happen what might, she, at all events, would do her duty. Continuing our course till we judged a sufficient offing FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 291 had been obtained to fetch Carthagena, the helm was put up, and the wind drawing right aft, the mainsail was furled, the square-sail hoisted in its place, and we had every pros pect (if the breeze remained steady) of a fine run to our desired haven. Great care was requisite in steering the cutter, so as to avoid mischief from the huge seas that came thundering astern, as if determined to overwhelm her ; but the buoyant little craft rose gallantly upon them, and they passed harmlessly by, hissing and roaring under the bows in impotent malice. The regular watch was now set, and the remainder of us sought the shelter of our diminutive cabin. On looking out from the hatchway on the morning of the 6th all was changed. It was a perfect calm ; the bright blue heaven uncheckered by a single cloud, and not a breath of air existed to fill the sails, which flapped and rat tled as we gently rolled upon the heavy swells ; a light air springing up about midday enabled us, assisted by our sweeps, to reach the " Puerto de las Aguilas," in the harbor of which we anchored for the night. It is very secure for small craft, protected by a hill jutting out into the sea, on the summit of which is a fort. We passed the night on board, and four o'clock on the morning of the 7th saw us again under weigh, with a more moderate south-westerly breeze. A large guarda costa, carrying a heavy gun amidships, and full of men, bore down upon us about ten, evidently not understanding who or what we were, but upon our hoisting the English flag, and, in reply to a question from her cap tain, stating whence we were come and whither we were go ing, she went about and left us to pursue our voyage. The harbor of Carthagena is, from the narrowness of its en trance, very difficult of access to strangers, and it was with some little trouble, owing to our total ignorance of the coast thatTwe at length discovered it, when, standing in, we an 292 SWELL LIFE AT SEA ; OR, chored about three o'clock in the afternoon. Having ar rived at a place of such importance, it was determined to make as smart an appearance as circumstances would per mit. The cutter's sails were furled with unusual care, the yard was squared with the utmost exactness, ropes were neatly coiled down, swivels mounted, and ourselves arrayed in blue undress uniforms, awaited the arrival of the health- boat, which, pulling twelve oars, and large enough to have taken the "Midge" on board, soon after came alongside and demanded our papers, the officers and crew using sun dry exclamations of surprise at the smallness of the yacht. Our credentials being delivered, we fully expected per mission to land at once, when, to our amazement and indig nation, the officials informed us we must perform six days' quarantine, that being the time fixed for all vessels coming from Gibraltar. In vain we remonstrated, stating we were last from Malaga, and not from Gibraltar as was declared, when the Governor's Secretary, who happened to be present, settled the matter by a direct falsehood, viz : that it mat tered not where vessels might have touched at, but that if they were from the Rock at all, into quarantine they must go. As civility had failed in mollifying these worthies, we tried what effect a little bluster would produce, and vowed that every Spanish vessel should, upon reaching Gibraltar, perform the same number of days' quarantine they might in flict upon us, stating in addition, we should forthwith lay a complaint before our ambassador at Madrid. The Dons, evidently a little bothered, pulled away, leaving a health guard in a boat a short distance off to prevent any commu nication with the shore. A few pecetas rendered the man excessively obliging, and he procured for us a supply of Tater, fresh provisions and vegetables, and undertook to send a letter from us to the Consul, informing him of our situation, and requesting he would use his influence to ol> FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 293 tain our release, as we were satisfied some knavery was at the bottom of the transaction. The whole proceeding, however, was most vexatious, and the prospect of a long beat to windward of between two and three hundred miles back to the Rock against the pre vailing westerly winds, without accomplishing the object of our voyage, at the first moment entirely destroyed our equa nimity ; but after hoisting the yellow flag, and consigning Spaniards in general, and the Carthagena gentry in parti cular, to the tender mercies of a certain person who shall be nameless, we lighted the pipe of resignation and pa tiently submitted to our fate. Our arrival had evidently excited some little interest ; first one boat, then another, then two and three together, hovered round us, their occu pants making remarks upon the size, rig, and appearance of the yacht. Some declared we belonged to the Navy, others that we were spies ; in short no supposition, however ridiculous, was too extravagant for their fertile imagina tions. The magnificent harbor of Carthagena, in which a navy might ride at anchor, is situated on the coast of Murcia, and, land-locked on all sides, save at its entrance defended by an island, is secure from every storm. A few coasting vessels only were in port at the time of our visit, and trade appeared almost to have deserted a locality once famous in history for its commerce. The shades of a lovely evening at length stole over us, the hum of voices in the town had ceased, and we retired to our berths speculating as to the course that would be adopted towards us by the great men on shore. Advantage was taken of the fineness of the fol lowing morning to bring all our bedding, wet clothes, &c., on deck, and such little repairs were made in the rigging, as upon examination were found requisite. Whilst at breakfast, being hailed vociferously by some 294 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, person iii a boat close to us, we showed ourselves above the hatchway, when a gentleman, taking off his hat and bow ing politely, informed us in Spanish he was the English Vice-Consul rather an Irishism but though a Spaniard, he was the locum tenens of the Consul, who was absent from Carthagena. He had received our note, and had waited upon the governor, who promised that in a short time we should receive permission to land. After some little con versation, and leaving his address, he took his departure. The success of our diplomacy of the previous afternoon put us all in high spirits, and in about an hour the tub of a health boat with its numerous rowers was seen slowly ap proaching, two " heroes" in cocked hats being seated in the stern sheets. On coming alongside, one of them proved to be our friend the secretary, who, with much courtesy, this time, regretted the inconvenience we had been put to, de clared the detention to have been a mistake, that we might go on shore whenever we liked, and that we should have admission to the arsenal, dockyard, &c. Many compli ments having passed between us, the tub moved off, and we were^at liberty. A very short time elapsed ere we were once more on terra firma, and making our way through wide and well- paved streets to the residence of the vice-consul, who had procured for us the promised order. It was with feelings of regret that we viewed the deserted quays, rope walks, and foundries, and saw that everything was going to decay. Here it was, in more prosperous times, the Spanish fleets were equipped fleets that, in alliance with those of France, contested with us the sovereignty of the seas. Then all was life and activity, now silence and' solitude. In the year 1804, we were told, 4000 workmen had been employed in the various departments ; the names of forty only were at this time on the superintendent's books, and a small FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 295 schooner and a gun-boat were the only government vessels in the docks ! The fortifications are strong, and the garri son numbered about 2000 men. The little trade remaining is principally in "barilla," an impure carbonate of soda, produced by burning marine plants, and "almagra," a red earth used for polishing mirrors. There is likewise a manu facture of sail-cloth and of ropes and cable, made of " es parto," a species of rush. The costume of the peasantry whom we met in the streets differed from that we had pre viously seen. A handkerchief tied round the head took the place of the sugarloaf-shaped hat. The jacket of velvet, round the waist a colored sash, white linen kilt instead of breeches, bare legs, hempen sandals, and a gorgeous plaid thrown over the shoulder j the tout ensemble putting us in mind of the Highlanders of Scotland. For the mantilla the women had substituted white woollen shawls, and wore blue petticoats with yellow bodices. Learning that alle giance was to be sworn to the young Queen of Spain at Barcelona on or about the 20th of the month, in conse quence of the abrogation of the Salic law, and that the ceremonies would be upon a grand scale, we wrote to Gib raltar for a fortnight's extension of leave, to enable us to proceed to the former city, stating, at the same time, we should proceed to Valencia, and that if on our arrival there we heard nothing to the contrary, should conclude it had been granted, and continue our voyage. Having ascended some hills in the neighborhood of the town to enjoy the view, we afterwards returned to the yacht to dine, taking with us the vice-consul. A strong breeze blowing into the bay rendered the "Midge" rather uneasy, and we had not long sat down to our meal when the unfortunate " vice" was completely upset by "mal de mer," and as some time elapsed before a boat could be procure d to set him ashore, 296 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, he remained the intervening period in a state of pitiable discomfort. We accepted an invitation to pass the evening at his house, and remained on board till the hour arrived for fulfill ing the engagement. At the residence of the vice-consul we found several caballeros and sefioritas (and very pretty sefioritas too) assembled to meet us. There was singing to guitar accompaniments, and no lack of conversation, our broken Spanish affording vast amusement to our fair acquaintances, who whenever we got into difficulties assisted us out of them with marvellous dexterity. In the course of the evening our host inquired if we had ever felt the shock of an earthquake. II replied in the affirmative, but B and myself never having been so for tunate, it was proposed we should touch at Torre-vieja, a village on the coast between Carthagena and Alicante, where it was affirmed " tembloresde tierra" took place con. stantly with more or less violence, and that, as the mother of the vice-consul resided there, he should proceed thither by laud, and give us the meeting. This plan being agreed to, we naturally made inquiries concerning the country we were about to visit, when it ap peared that in the year 1829 some ten or a dozen villages, Torre-vieja amongst the number, had been destroyed and many of their inhabitants swallowed up by one of these con vulsions of nature, and since that occurrence " tremblings Of the earth" had continued almost without intermission. Having passed a very pleasant evening we took our depart ure,, the "house being placed at our disposal," and we in return for the civility " kissing (metaphorically) the ladies' feet," it not being etiquette on any occasion to follow the English custom of shaking hands. It was with some little curiosity we looked forward to that which it was said we should experience on the morrow, for though to "sea shak* FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 297 ing n we were tolerably well inured, we could form but little idea of what would be our sensations when subjected to that of the earth. Early the following morning we got under weigh, meeting sharp squalls in beating out of the harbor, after which however it fell nearly calm. Having doubled Cape Palos, a low sandy point with a watch-tower at its extremity, near which are three small islands, called the " Hormigas," we anchored at Torre-vieja ab'out three o'clock in the afternoon, finding several of the inhabitants on the look-out for us as the Consul's arrival had by a con siderable time preceded our own. On going ashore our friend received us, and led the way to his mother's house, where we were hospitably entreated ; and after remaining a short time there, started to examine the village, which stands upon the site of the former one. The streets were very wide, enabling the natives to assemble in them in time of danger, and the houses (one story in height) built of wood and cane, these materials yielding to the motion of the earth, without falling, which such as are composed of brick or stone invariably do. We were assured that scarce ly a day passed without their owners being reminded upon what unstable ground they dwell ; that animals, such as horses, oxen, mules, &c., were the first to give warning of an approaching shock, stopping if in motion, and placing their legs apart to obtain a firmer footing, and that those who were accustomed to the locality were more sensitive than strangers. Familiarity with -danger blunts the appre hension of it ; festive groups were assembled in front of the houses, enjoying the coolness of the evening ; the song and the merry laugh resounded on every side, and it might have been imagined from the conduct of the actors in the scene, that a recurrence of an event similar to that which had destroyed some hundreds of their countrymen a short time previous was beyond the bounds of possibility. 13* 298 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, Not long before our visit an eminent geologist had been sent from Madrid to investigate the cause of this phenome non, which* is confined to a comparatively small district The day succeeding his arrival shocks were felt, which con tinued with more or less violence during the remainder of the week. The philosopher at first bore them patiently, but at length he fairly took to his heels, vowing an infinite number of candles to the Yirgin, and declaring that for all the riches of the world he would not live in so horrid a place. Salt is exported in large quantities from this place, chiefly to the north of Europe, and three Swedish brigs were at an chor waiting for cargoes of this article. Lingering on shore till between eleven and twelve at night, trusting that what we anxiously hoped for might take place, we were nevertheless compelled to embark with out our wishes being gratified, but comforted with the assurance that so long a cessation of " qua.kings n had not been known for a considerable period. After returning to the " Midge," we remained long on deck both to enjoy the beauty of the evening, and that in case of a shock taking place, we might be on the alert, the sensation when on the water resembling that of striking on a rock. The morning of the 10th broke gloriously, and with a pleasant breeze, and merely a ripple on the sea, we set sail for Alicante. The wind, however, drew ahead, and soon after deserted us altogether. Between nine and ten o'clock we could see, with the aid of a glass, the ruins of two vil lages, demolished by the same earthquake which had so grievously maltreated " Torn-vieja." Off Santa Pola we hove to, in order to land the boy who had accompanied us from Gibraltar at his native village, and the breeze having again freshened, we had to beat the whole distance to Ali cante, in the roadstead of which we anchored, between four FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 299 and five in the afternoon, and being admitted to pratique, lost no time in landing. The custom-house officials acted with unusual incivility, opening our carpet bags and strew ing the contents on the pier. This conduct secured for them the " gain of a loss," as we in consequence withheld the fee usually presented to these jacks-in-office. Receiving every attention from the consul (Mr. Waring), we put up at an hotel in the Plaza del Mar, and passed -the night (I cannot say slept) ashore for the first time since leaving Gibraltar. Whether this state of unrest was caused by the attacks of certain active little tormentors, by the closeness of the house, by missing the accustomed motion of the ves sel, or by all three combined, it matters not, but our antici pations of unbroken repose were cruelly disappointed. The town of Alicante, in the province of Valencia, stands close to the "sea shore, overhung by a lofty rock some thou sand feet in height, crowned at its summit by a castle. The streets were clean, and houses good, the flooring of the rooms (if it may be so expressed) being composed of a kind of porcelain, painted with various devices, well adapted to the sultry climate. The fortifications appeared strong, but an application on our part for permission to visit the castle was refused, on the plea of state prisoners being confined there. Part of the rock was blown up by the French in the year 1107, at the conclusion of a siege of long duration, in which the English were the defenders. The country in the neighborhood is very fertile, and the olive trees are remarkably fine. Salt is also made in the vicinity, and exported from Torre-vieja. Being in the habit of wearing our usual boating-dress, (white jackets, white pantaloons, and straw hats,) when landing at the different towns where we touched, we be came in consequence marked objects, and were frequently saluted with the title of "locos Ingleses," (mad English- 300 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, men,) and the anxiety of the female part of the community to get a .sight of persons thus honorably designated, was very ludicrous. While sauntering through the streets towards the close of the afternoon, we encountered a rush of persons running furiously in a direction opposite to that in which we wero moving, and on inquiring the reason, found they were retir ing from the unwelcome proximity of a bull, who, with a long rope tied round his horns, held by a number of men at some distance behind, was thus permitted to take his head long course. The unfortunate animal, maddened by the blows and shouts of the pursuing population, tore fran- ticly along, and before we well knew what we were about, two of us were forced into a shop by the crowd, I being left at the door in such a position that escape was out of the question. On came the bull, stopping in front of the very place at which I was posted, my comfort being in no degree added to by the information (conveyed to me by some kind friend inside) that the "toro" was a remarkably savage one, and having already killed two real men, had become so fastidious as utterly to scout the sham represent ations of the "genus homo," frequently lowered from the windows of houses for his own especial amusement^ Tak ing off my hat, the only offensive weapon I possessed, I was prepared to strike him over the nose, when a native (a short distance off) threw his cloak across the ground, and the bull darting off in hot pursuit, I found myself extricated from this unpleasant predicament. A pilot being engaged for the voyage from Alicante to Barcelona, and to return with us to the former town, we proceeded on our cruise between ten and eleven at night, with a light north-westerly breeze, and the following morning doubled Cape San Antonio, the wind blowing strong from the s^uth. A gale from the eastward with a heavy sea (both of whbh moderated FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 301 towards evening) compelled us to put back to Denia, the access to the anchorage being through a narrow channel with sandbanks on either side, covered with a trifling depth of water. Upon tme of these the pilot ran us aground, and had the weather continued as boisterous as during the early part of the day, the cutter must inevitably have gone to pieces ; even as it was she struck hard, and we much feared she would have sustained serious damage, but after an hour's labor she was fortunately got off with only trifling injury. On the first semblance of danger our " Palinurus" commenced praying to his patron saint, a proceeding soon put a stop to by our threatening to throw him overboard if he did not instantly cease and assist the crew. By ten o'clock we were safely anchored, and though the night was dark, had a good view of the town and of the few vessels in the roads by the glare of continued flashes of lightning. The 13th dawned cloudlessly upon us, but the weather be ing stormy we remained in siatu quo, and R and B went ashore, and paid their respects to the commandant, who received them in bed, and upon being informed of the nature of their expedition exclaimed, "None but English men could have undertaken it." Denia, in the province of Valencia, lies under a rock or mountain of great height. The town is a poor one, for the sea having receded has almost destroyed the trade. In the neighborhood, olive trees and vines flourish in profusion. About two o'clock in the afternoon a sudden shift of wind to the south-west caused us to lose no time in getting under weigh, passing in the course of the day the towns or rather villages of Almandrave, Olivas, Pilas, and Gandia. The breeze continued in the same quarter all night, but a head sea much impeded our progress, causing the cutter to pitch heavily. The pilot expressed great anxiety lest a north east gale should come on, in which case he declared we must 302 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, run back to Alicante, as he would not venture upon a second attempt to make Denia. The native sailors dread the whole , of this part of the coast, as when the wind blows strong from the quarter alluded to, a tremendous sea breaks with unmitigated fury upon a long tract of sandy shore almost destitute of any refuge. Between twelve and one o'clock the following day, we anchored at the Grao or port of Valencia, during a gale from the south-west, to the force of which it is much ex posed, and the yacht for a short time was in some little jeopardy. Two strands of the cable parted soon after the anchor took the ground, when a second was let go and ca ble veered upon each. The topmast was struck, bowsprit run in upon deck, and hatches battened down. Finding the cutter dragging, we had recourse to our third and largest anchor, which fortunately brought us up within a 'short distance of the breakers. To have worked out to sea in the teeth of the gale would have been impossible, and had we gone ashore, not much would have been left of the poor little " Midge." "A miss is as good as a mile/' saitli the proverb, and the weather becoming moderate towards evening we took up a more favorable berth, and landed between six and seven o'clock. A " tartana," a kind of van without springs, drawn by one horse, (the common conveyance of the coun try,) was put in requisition to take us to Valencia, distant about two miles, the road the whole way being planted on either side with fine trees, producing a most delightful and refreshing shade. Numbers of persons of both sexes, and " tartanas^innurnerable, were passing and repassing along this agreeable drive. Being ignorant of the topography, our "Jehu" was ordered to take us to the best hotel in the town, upon which we found ourselves at the " Fonda de la FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 303 Paz," which he declared to be unequalled, though whether such was the case or not, we had no time to discover. Having refreshed the inner man, we sallied forth into the streets, which were narrow, crooked, unpaved, and gloomy, still retaining the character given by their Moorish possess ors, and the appearance of the natives at this day bears a strong resemblance to that of the inhabitants of the oppo site coast. Numbers of women (whose complexion was less swarthy than that of the men) were seated in the open air pursuing their several avocations ; their heads uncovered, and their hair fastened at the back with huge gilt pins. It being too late in the day to visit the cathedral, we made our way to the river Guadalaviar, at this time an insignifi cant stream, and so nearly dried up, that a market was held in its bed. When swollen, however, by winter rains, it be comes an impetuous torrent, and the length of some of the bridges (five in number) testifies its width, under these cir cumstances, to be very considerable. We much admired the prospect from the Puente del Mar. Close at hand were the walls of the town following the course of the river, the bridges, ever picturesque objects, diverting the eye from its uninteresting condition. Beyond were various roads lead ing to the " huerta," the latter clothed in perpetual verdure, and brought by the marvellously perfect system of irrigation, introduced by its ancient and maintained by its present pos sessors, into Or state of fertility entitling it to the appellation of the " Garden of Spain." We proceeded thence to the " Glorieta," the fashionable promenade of Valencia, planted and provided with foun tains ; numbers of persons were hEre congregated, and the ." seiloritas " present appeared in no way inferior to those of their countrywomen whom we had already met with, either in personal charms or in their knowledge o f displaying them 304 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OK, to the best advantage. Here we remained a considerable time, admiring the varied dress of the passing groups, our own unsophisticated apparel contrasting strangely with the butterfly costumes of the light-hearted crowd surrounding us, to whom we in our turn were evidently objects of much curiosity. It was late at night ere we sought repose, giv ing strict injunctions before doing so, that we should be roused early in the morning, in order to waste as little as possible of the short time we had it in our power to devote to the inspection of this famous city. By seven o'clock we were ready to commence our pere grinations, and, as a matter of course, bent our steps in the first instance to the cathedral, the tower of which, stand ing separate from the main building, between one hundred and sixty and one hundred and seventy feet in height, was as cended. From its summit was a splendid view of the adja cent plains, teeming with fertility, and producing in the greatest profusion, corn, rice, and every description of food for man and beast. Mulberry, orange, and palm trees, are thickly spread throughout its whole extent, and we gazed, and gazed, and gazed again upon the unsurpassable beauty of the prospect, heightened and increased by the lustrous brightness of a cloudless summer sky. The architecture of the^ cathedral is partly Gothic; on the back of the choir (worked in alabaster) are representations of scriptural sub jects. The seats are handsomely carved ; behind the altar are some curiously painted doors, and the church possesses fine pictures by different artists. Hiring horses, we made the circuit of the town, (the walls and some of the towers of which are in excellent preservation,) and subsequently effected a short excursion into the country, which fully real ized the expectations we had formed of its beauty from the view obtained in the morning from the tower of the cathe dral. FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 305 On returning from our ride, visited the " Plaza Santa Catalina," El Mercado, the " Calle de Caballeros," and en tered a shop in which were sold that peculiar species of tile, bearing the name of the town, which have been already al luded to, as being used instead of flooring. The blue and purple colors were very rich, and the tile is expensive, owing to the difficulty of bringing out a perfect article. Patios surrounded by colonnades appeared almost as common to the houses here as to those of Andalusia. The number and importunity of the beggars of Valencia exceeded anything we had met with, (even in this land of beggars,) for no sooner was one set disposed of, than another swarm were always ready to take their places. Whilst reposing in our inn after the fatigues of the day, a commotion in the street induced us to move towards the window, to discover the 1 cause of the uproar, when it appeared that two men having quarrelled were proceeding to settle their differences with the knife, when the bystand ers (among whom were some women) thought fit to inter fere. The violent gesticulations, flashing eyes, and bronzed countenances of the parties concerned, reminded me strongly of a fracas of a similar nature I had witnessed in Barbary, swords being substituted for the weapons now used, and fe males being left out of the question. The combatants were not easily pacified, and furious attempts at stabbing, parried by the left arm wrapped in the " manta," had already been made, when two or three of the softer sex threw themselves upon the antagonists, completely frustrating their attempts at mischief. The chattering that ensued (totally unintelli gible to us, the conversation being carried on in the patois of the country) was perfectly deafening ; but at length the principals, scowling, and muttering, as we were told, threats of future vengeance, were led away in opposite directions, by their respective friends ; the affair ending for the present. 306 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, at all events, without bloodshed, but it afforded a fine spe cimen of the temperament of this excitable people, and the insecurity and little value placed by them upon human life. In the evening we repaired to the cafe to eat ices and amuse ourselves with watching the manners of the persons there assembled. Gaiety and good humor were in the as cendant, and music occasionally lent its aid towards increas ing the harmony of the entertainment. Entering into con versation with some well-dressed persons near us, we found that they supposed that all Englishmen came from London, having an idea that London and England were synonymous, while of the geography of many of the principal towns of their own country, they possessed but little knowledge. They were, however, extremely polite, insisting upon liquidating the expense of our refreshment, (which compliment we re turned,) and after remaining till rather a late hour, we parted with mutual expressions of good-will. On the 16th of the month, no letters having arrived for us from Gibraltar, we determined on proceeding to Barce lona. Hiring a tartana we returned to the Grao, embarked on board the cutter about eleven o'clock, and got under weigh at one, with a slight north-easterly breeze. Murvie- dro, the ancient Saguntum, was sighted during the after noon, and as the wind freshened considerably towards night, with a heavy swell from the eastward, and much lightning, we reduced our canvas and struck the topmast. The next morning, finding ourselves almost becalmed, with what little air there was drawing to the south-west, all sail was again made; the heat was intense; an universal white glare overspread the sky, the wind had scarcely strength to fill the sails, or ruffle the surface of the long swells which heaved noiselessly around, and the general ap pearance of the atmosphere betokened an approaching change. This unsatisfactory state of affairs continued till FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 307 towards evening, when the breeze gradually freshening, and heavy, lurid clouds rising in masses to windward, gave warn ing that our anticipations were likely to be verified. The gaft topsail was taken in, topmast struck, mainsail and fore sail close reefed, jibs shifted, mizen furled, hatches battened down, and every preparation made to resist the fury of the storm. About six o'clock, gusts of wind, accompanied with vivid lightning, and peals of thunder, announced that the war of elements was about to commence. For about half an hour after, it blew a steady gale, when in a short time a violent squall compelled us to furl our mainsail, and scud under bare poles. The sea was whirled aloft in foam and spray, the air was one continued blaze of quivering, blinding light ning, the thunder rattled amid the blast, the wind whistled through the rigging, the rain poured down in torrents, and it seemed as if the demon of the tempest had exhausted all its fury upon our devoted heads. Onwards flew the " Midge," almost rivalling its namesake in the vivacity of its motions, and whilst passing Peniscola, (a conical rock, surmounted with a castle,) during the height of the squall, a schooner anchored close in shore hoisted a small English ensign. The well-known color was hailed by us with de light, not that in case of mishap aoy assistance could have been rendered, but it was cheering amidst the surrounding turmoil to see our country's flag so proudly floating in the howling storm. The fury of the wind abated as suddenly as it had arisen, and sail being again made, we reached Yinaroz between nine and ten, and anchored there for the night. By three o'clock on the morning of the 18th, we were again under weigh, with a moderate easterly breeze. The river Ebro empties itself into the Mediterranean at the port of Alfaques, about five-and-twenty miles from Yinaroz, sand-banks rendering the coast in this neighborhood excess- 308 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, ively dangerous. Towards evening the wind again changed to the southr.west, and soon after fell calm. The pleasure of navigating the Mediterranean is frequent ly the theme of discourse, and the climate is certainly deli cious, but the winds are baffling, the sea short and broken when blowing fresh, and the sudden alternations of calm and storm, and storm and calm, must be experienced to be thoroughly comprehended. From the dawn of the following day till evening, light airs from the eastward prevailed, and at intervals we toiled hard at the sweeps. Sunset was mag nificent. Sea and sky sparkled like gold, and as the orb of day sunk into the western waves, columns of light (fit em blems of its departing glory) shot brilliantly across the arch of heaven. When darkness closed around us, the stars looked calmly down, veiling their modest beauty, when with refulgent splendor a glorious moon rose solemnly o'er the tranquil sea. Between eleven and twelve at night we reached Barcelona, and as soon as the sails were furled and everything made snug, all hands turned in,- and in a few minutes were lost in the regions of oblivion, for we had had a hard day's work, and were much fatigued with the labor of continual sweeping. Our slumbers, though profound, were not destined to be of long duration, for soon after dawn on the 20th, the % th under of a salute from a brig of war, close to which we had anchored the night before, roused us from repose. Landing about seven, we put up at the Fonda de la Constancia, a second-rate house, but so crowded was the town, from the numbers of ^people flocking into it from the country to participate in the approaching festivities, that we were fortunate in obtaining accommoda tion anywhere, and its situation moreover possessed the advantage of being at no great distance from the harbor. Starting very soon after breakfast upon an exploration of this, the chief town of Cataluna, the change in the cos- FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 309 lume of the peasantry immediately attracted our attention. Long red woollen caps, one end hanging down the back of the neck, (giving the appearance of bags,) very wide trou sers of dark-colored material reaching almost to the arm pits, a jacket (very short in the waist) generally thrown over the shoulder, and a gorgeous sash, composed the dress of the men. With the women, mantillas were at a discount, handkerchiefs generally superseding them, and huge ear rings, some of them apparently of great value, seemed every where much in vogue. Of a fairer complexion than the Andaluzas, they were as little to be compared to them in grace and elegance of figure, as the cart-horse to the high bred, fine-limbed racer. The streets are narrow, but the public promenades particularly fine. The principal one, the Rambla, planted with trees, is the centre and great thoroughfare of the town, and there are likewise Paseos both on the land and sea sides, the latter being the resort of the beauty and fashion of the place, who here congregate to enjoy the freshness of the evening breeze ; and as the northern stranger paces backward and forward, charmed with the picturesque effect of the many-colored costumes, his eye involuntarily wanders to the brilliant sky, the deep-blue sea, and the indented coast, whose distant points are by the clearness of the atmosphere brought as it were close within his reach, and the conviction unwittingly forces itself upon his mind, how far inferior is the climate of his own land of mist and rain, to that of the sunny and beauteous south. The walk round the ramparts abounds in beautiful views, em bracing mountains, highly cultivated plains, the fortification of Monjuich, and the Mediterranean sea. In addition to those already named, there are several others equally plea sant, and the superiority of Spanish over English towns in this particular is very remarkable. The providing of places -of recreation, entirely open to the public, is a custom 310 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, worthy of imitation, for did such exist in our own large cities, the artisan population could resort thither when the toil of the day was over, instead (as is too frequently the case) of being compelled to seek for amusement in dens of vice and infamy. The cathedral has two towers, from the top of which is a splendid view of the neighboring country. The painted glass in the windows is rich in the extreme, and the screen (ornamented with purple and gold, with a column of red marble on either side, crowned with an angel holding a torch) has a fine effect. Some sculptured figures with large scissors and boots attracting our attention, we were informed that in days of yore the tailors and shoe makers had been of great service to the cathedral, and that these images had been put up in honor of them. There are several other churches, but we did not visit them. After wandering about all day, we proceeded on board the cutter, giving orders that she should be hove down, her bottom examined, and her rigging thoroughly set up. Bar- celoneta is an ugly suburb, inhabited by an amphibious race of beings, of every genus connected with the sea. The harbor is large, protected from storms by a mole of con siderable length, and from hostile aggression by the citadel and a smaller fort, both of which are commanded by Mon- juich. A few coasting and other vessels, with two Spanish brigs of war, and three or four guarda (ostas, comprised the whole of the shipping then anchored there. Having (in the evening) passed an hour on the " Muralla del Mar," we ad journed to a cafe, and spent a short time there very agree ably, making acquaintance with some officers of a regiment of Royal Guards stationed at Barcelona, whom we found gentlemanly and well-informed. The hill of Monjuich, about a mile from the town, crowned with the fort of that name, is approached by a zig-zag road, and though the ascent is steep, the magnificent view of the Mediterranean, FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACPITING. 311 and of the city beneath, amply repays the trouble. The fortifications are very strong, and if well provisioned, ade quately garrisoned, and firmly defended, are from their po sition almost impregnable. Our request t6 examine the works was civilly refused, so retracing our steps, we made a detour to visit what is supposed to have been the Jews' burying-ground, but found nothing to reward our curiosity, save some large stones, with unintelligible inscriptions. An early opportunity was taken of seeing the guards un der arms ; and a fine-looking corps they were, well dressed, and well appointed, but their movements wanted the regu larity and steadiness of those of English troops. Individu ally, they were stalwart men, containing the raw material of excellent soldiers, and were smarter in their appearance off duty than any infantry we had hitherto met with in the country. The undress of the officers, blue coatees, and cocked hats bound with silver lace, had an exceedingly neat effect. The principal public buildings . are the Exchange, the Foundry, the Captain-General's Palace, and the Casa de Caridad. The language spoken by the natives is a patois, in which villainously pronounced French is discerni ble, and falls harshly and unpleasantly on the ear. On the morning of the 22d, B started, per diligence, for Perpignan, en route for England, and in the evening, R and I attended the theatre, and found the acting and dancing very indifferent. The expected order for com mencing the ceremonies in honor of the young Queen hav ing arrived, the festivities commenced on the 24th by figures of the King, Queen, and the little Isabella, ele gantly attired, being placed on a Ijighly decorated platform in front of the Captain-General's residence, and were wel comed by thousands of spectators with loud "vivas," though at the same time many present were of opinion that Don Carlos had been hardly dealt with, the repeal 312 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, Salic law having been obtained by the artifices of Christina. A strong guard of soldiers was present to keep order, and add importance to the pageant. Troops of maskers, repre senting dragons, horses, bears, and outlandish figures of every description, accompanied with bands of music, paraded the streets, and afforded much amusement by their grotesque appearance. In the evening a salute was fired from all the batteries, from Monjuich, and from the ships of war ; the cafes were thronged, and hundreds were abroad till a late hour. The following day the captain-geueral and the au thorities proceeded to the cathedral to take the oath of allegiance to the young Queen, presents of clothes being afterwards distributed to numerous indigent persons, the town presenting a most animated appearance, from the numbers of the peasantry in holiday garb, moving in every direction, and the active preparations going forward on all sides for a general illumination, which was to commence at ten at night. At the appointed hour a glare of light blazed forth, and much taste was displayed in the arrangements, the devices in several instances being very beautiful. Amongst the most remarkable was a triumphal arch at the barracks of the guards, composed of variegated lamps, and allegori cal representations similarly formed were placed in front of the Exchange and the " Real Palacio." The trees in the public walks glittered with tiny lamps suspended amid their branches, the fronts of the houses were covered with white linen festooned with flowers, arches composed of evergreens spanned the streets, temporary fountains played at short intervals, songs were chanted in honor of the occasion, music sent forth its dulcet strains, pleasure was depicted in every face, and what with the brilliant moon and stars above, and the glittering scene below, the sight accorded more with the representation of a fairy tale than with the reality of real life. Fun and merriment lasted all FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 313 night, and early morning had arrived ere we could make up our minds to retire to our hotel. A sham fight taking place the ensuing evening, the consul procured for us tick ets of admission to the Mole, which was set apart for the convenience of respectable spectators. A fort mounting three guns was attacked by a division of boats, covered by the fire of two large guafda costas. The assailants made good their landing, but after a short conflict were supposed to be repulsed, and retreated to their boats, the guarda costas standing close in to protect them whilst retiring. It was but a paltry exhibition, and little merited the applause bestowed upon it by the admiring natives. I had a long conversation with the French consul, who, upon my point ing out the boat in which we had come from the Rock, ex pressed great surprise, and said that officers of the French army would never have attempted anything of the kind ; but, added he, " Englishmen are born half sailors." On the 27th, at ten o'clock, was a miserable performance ycleped a regatta, and at four in the afternoon a tourna ment. A large wooden amphitheatre was erected for the purpose, and was crowded from the lowest to the highest seats. The knights clad in armor (which some persons near us declared was tin) tilted at each other, but their efforts to unhorse their adversaries (if such was their inten tion) were very ridiculous. By some regulation unknown to us, one of the performers was declared the victor, and was conducted to a lady personating the " Queen of Beau ty," who crowned him with laurel. Courses were then run at the figure of a man working on a pivot, holding a large sand-bag in one of its hands. If struck fairly with the lance, it spun round, and the attacking party escaped un touched ; if otherwise, he received a tremendous buffet which last one or two only escaped. This caused great diversion, and the unfortunate ones were greeted with roars 14 314 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, of laughter and every imaginable epithet of ridicule. This closed the rejoicings in honor of an ordinance which has since caused rivers of blood to flow in unhappy Spain. But three weeks of our leave remained, and anticipating a long voyage back to Gibraltar, on account of the prevalence of westerly winds, on the 28th we put to sea on our return home, and, after successive alternations of head winds, fair winds, strong breezes and calms, during the former of which we sustained a trifling damage, anchored at Alicante, on the afternoon of the 2d of July, the only incident worthy of record being that, while scudding before a smart gale off Cape San Antonio, R roused me from my watch below to say that, although no clouds were to be seen, the moon had gradually disappeared, and that he could not account for it. Of the reason I was equally ignorant, when, soon after discovering the fair " Luna" again making her appear ance from behind the shadow that had concealed her, the conviction at once flashed upon our minds that an eclipse (totally unexpected by us) must necessarily have taken place. On the 3d, we were again under weigh with a fresh north-easterly breeze, and having every prospect of weather ing Cape de Gat without difficulty ; but on the 5th, when within a short distance of the desired point, we encountered a gale from the west, which drove us back between thirty 'and forty miles to Aguillas, which we reached at night. During the 6th, and greater part of the 7th, it blew so strong that we could not venture from our shelter, but in the evening of the latter day, a light easterly breeze induced us once more to put to sea, for we were anxious not to over stay our leave, and determined to make every effort to double the troublesome Cape. Soon after we sailed, the wind again chopped round to the westward, but after beat ing till the morning of the 9th, a gale from the east sent us FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 315 past the Cape, the cutter plunging bows under on meeting the heavy sea caused by the previous westerly breeze. Our mast being sprung, it was fished with one of the sweeps, and when clear of the land, a square sail was hoisted, and we scudded till night, when the weather gradually became cairn ; but, owing to contrary winds, we did not reach Ma laga till the night of the llth. Strong westerly gales com pelled us to remain at anchor during the 12th and 13th, but on the evening of the 14th we got under weigh with a light easterly breeze, which changed to the west ere morn ing, when we beat up for the anchorage of Fuengirola. Sailed on the 16th, and on the 18th of July we rounded Europe Point, the band of our own regiment (at drill on the Flats) sounding sweetly far above us in the morning air. On standing out into the bay, a gun was fired to draw attention to the cutter, and anchoring at the " Old Mole," about eight A. M., we recieved pratique, and went ashore on the twentieth day after sailing from Barcelona. Thus ended the " cruise of the Midge." That whilst at sea we were in a constant state of watchfulness and some little anxiety, can hardly be doubted. But we were young, active and light-hearted, careless of the present and reckless of the future. Those were joyous days, to which memory fondly recurs, regarding them with the eye of retrospection as green oases in the desert of life's weary pilgrimage. MR. SNIGSBY'S YACHT y THE AUTHOR OP " SINGLETON FONTENOY," ETC. CHAPTER I. WELL, my dear," said Mr. Snigsby, " what do you pro pose to do ?" This was asked with the sweetest com placency, for Mr. Snigsby was well aware that his wife had no possible suggestion to make. " I think we must just stop on board that's all," said his wife, with sharpness. " Why that, my dear, seems pretty obvious. I am in formed that in trespassing on shore when in quarantine, you are liable to be shot." " I wish I was," ejaculated Alfred, gloomily. Mr. Snigsby paced the deck with his hands in his pockets, jingling his loose cash, according to custom. The yacht was moored at a buoy, not very far from the Parlatorio. That establishment will be long remembered hy all who have been in quarantine in Malta. The tabooed human beings lean against a bar a quarantine officer marches in the centre on the other side mankind at large are permit ted to hold converse with you. If you want refreshments, as of course you do, you pop the money into a little tub of water held to you for the purpose. It was a great specta, cle to see the Snigsbys lounging about there in the morn ings, or playing quoits in the quarantine ground. To be FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 31t sure it was preposterously hot, but at it father and son regularly went, while Mrs. Snigsby stood by and watched them. Meanwhile, Mr. Blobb the skipper's frame of mind was something which induced him to compare himself and surely he knew best to " a bear with a sore head." This is a favorite illustration among nautical men. He slept a good deal, and also swore a little, and continually com plained of the heat. No wonder Mr. Snigsby's bottled stout kept bursting faster than ever, from that very cause. It happened, as might have been expected, about the hot test time of the day and, as has previously been hinted, usually about the hour of Blobb's lunch. Mr. Snigsby had his misgivings, but he was considerably in awe of the skip per. That awe had gradually increased during the voyage ; for Mr. Blobb, having very soon discovered that they "was not regular swells," had taken measures for making himself of immense importance on board. He was an old yachts man, and had sailed under most specimens of the yachting tribe in the Sylph, for instance, with a sturdy old yacht ing dowager, who was a better sailor than many post cap tains who would ring her bell in the night to know why the gaff-topsail was not taken off her, (the yacht I mean,) and who always made Blobb pay for the spars he lost. His cruise with that " old woman of the sea" (who would have made a good wife for the famous persecutor of Sinbad) dwelt in his memory long. She was the widow of Admiral Slumton, K.K.B., and had lived many a year on board her Majesty's ships and vessels of war, pleasantly enjoying the cream of naval life on the various stations where Slumton had had commands. Blobb suffered terribly on board her vessel, and finally had a desperate quarrel with her having lost overboard her wig, which she had sent on deck to be dressed by her very ugly domestic. Then he had sailed tho 318 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, Whelp for a young gentleman who took it into his head to take all the charge on himself, and superseded Blobb, till they were caught in the Gulf of Lyons by a tremendous gale, and the young gentleman was found on his knees in among his patent leather boots. Accordingly, he was a regular old stager, and often, when the Snigsbys sat down to a more delicate fowl than usual, the villain would set the. big- jib as he expressed it with motives so disgraceful that I decline to expatiate on them. A pretty thing indeed fowls to dinner to a person of his station of life ! Such was the reflection of Mrs. Snigsby to her husband one day after Blobb had requested permission to kill a couple of chickens for, of course, the Snigsbys now felt inclined to look down on the " lower orders." Everybody who rises in this country cuts and snubs the class he came from. We are all seemingly becoming " higher orders" together, so that by and by, society will be like the giant's castle, built on the top of a bean-stalk a structure that must, okcourse, get more shaky the loftier and more pretentous it becomes. Well, days wore on, and the quarantine people gave the yacht some grace, and allowed them to haul down the yel low flag before the time. The fact was, this was suggested to the authorities by little Grigg, the busybody of the island, who discovered, with considerable tact, that the Snigsbys were people with money, and took care to be introduced, arid to let them know to whose interference they owed their premature escape. . The family now established themselves in very nice rooms in Stradalieale, that imposing street wjiere the pavement looks so white and hot in the summer where the Maltese girls go tripping along with their mantillas flow ing and his Excellency the Cardinal rolls by in a hideously ugly carriage and military men saunter, and naval men walk, and Turks stroll, and priests glide monotonously in a pace different from all. Malta is the great olla podrida of FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING 319 mankind. All varieties of races get mixed in that dish Some ingenuity would be required to determine the propor tions of the social mess ; but the English mercantile classes represent the beef wandering artists the more tender and luxuriant fowl naval and military men the game, (a little high, sometimes,) the natives the malodorous garlic and Jesuits the titillating pepper ! On the whole it is an agree able compound if your appetite is vigorous. The Snigsbys, I say, perched themselves comfortably in Strada Reale, and there they looked round about, and then at each other in an inquiring way. They were now abroad, there could be no doubt of that, and why, now they must begin to enjoy it. But the first stare some English people give under these simple circumstances is odd enough ; they seem to peer round with a sort of idea that they ought to be somehow or other inspired. There is a disagreeable air of "Is this all?" about them, made still more ludicrous by their assumption of a contrary style of language. How often must we preach the cesium non ammuml My dear Mr. Snigsby, how could you expect to be touched by the tombs of the Knights of St. John's, when nothing but your pocket (on the demand of 6d.) was ever touched by the tombs in your own Westminster Abbey ? However, they began at all events to get into "society" in time. For to begin with, they secured the good graces of the little fat pompous parson of St. Kilderkin. The card of the Rever end Mr. Fatton was sent up one morning, and the reverend gentleman himself followed- it, bowed, took a chair, crossed his legs, and holding his hat on his knees, kept himself with one eye on Mr. and one on Mrs. Snigsby, so as to secure both, while " My son, sir,'i Alfred, sat uneasily on the sofa, fumbling the " Racing Calendar." Mr. Fatton's business was ushered in by a " hem," and " doubtless Mr. Snigsby \VJTS acquainted with the depressed state of the Protestant 320 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, Church in the island?" Oar friend had certainly never be come acquainted with anything of the sort, and glancing with the eye of a man of business at the prosperous appear ance of Mr. Fatton, could not at first imagine the possibility of it. But he felt he was very likely to expose his igno rance if he demurred, so he bowed blandly and rubbed his hands with an air of acquiescence. Mr. Fatton bowed also, and went on to talk of the "abomination of desolation," and the machinations of the Jesuits, and, in fact, the sub scription list for the new Protestant Church of Malta, now being built on the " Rock of Ages," as he expressed it, and at a considerable expense. (Indeed, Malta had recently been blessed with a bishop who had been received with " manned yards," and a salute with considerably more honor indeed than St. Paul was in the same island.) Mr. Snigsby heard the orator with attention, glanced at his wife, went to his desk and subscribed with munificence. Mr. Fatton was charmed, begged to make Mr. and Mrs. Snigsby acquainted with some of his friends. Cards dropped in, and the Snigsbys went out a good deal, and attended the fashion able movements ; saw the sailors landed to drill in the morn ings, which was a freak of the new admiral's, which gave a few gentlemen in the squadron an opportunity of galloping about like dragoons; attended Florian gardens, and " stopped the way" at the opera in the evening. Then, there were quiet solid dinners, at which Mr. Snigsby chatted over the "currency" with mercantile men, the reduction of the dol lar, the rise of the dollar, and so forth for Malta is a mini ature England in business as in pleasure, has its own cur rency, and gets into commercial convulsions about two pence. So, the Snigsbsean existence went on very pleasantly for a while, scarcely jarred even by the singular conduct of a pri vate in the Tralee Raffs, who, being comfortably drunk, and seeing Mr. Snigsby's door open, tumbled up stairs unper- FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 321 ceived, and coolly turned into bed in the connubial chamber. That misguided man was discovered by the astonished Mr. Snigsby, in the evening, and subsequently duly punished. One regrets to reflect, however, that all this time Mr. Alfred Snigsby was finding things very " slow." How could he be expected to relish the discussions on the " cur rency " a word which simply suggested laughter to a dis ciple of the school of Brickies. He had come oat to the Mediterranean with the feeling of those who, as Punch said the other day, think "the Mediterranean is not to be made a French lake its proper vocation being that of English pond." He thought all enthusiasm about antiquities, and so forth, " humbug." Indeed Brickies, his idol, had tra velled, and published a work, pooh-poohing the Pyramids, and snubbing the Acropolis, and conveying much such a notion of the East as one would be likely to get of the North from an alert inmate of that department of the Zoological Gardens where the Simise dwelt. Alfred had, accordingly, no sympathy with anything but such amuse ment as the island could afford to a man of London tastes ; and all such people must have remarked how miserably infe rior foreigners are to us in civilization. You may range Constantinople or Smyrna for nights without ever finding, a place where you can get a chop and hear a " comic song ;" at Athens, a friend of mine " out on the loose" at night, was nearly eaten alive by the dogs that howl dismally there. It was melancholy to see Alfred " mooning," as he called it, about the streets in the forenoon, sometimes peering in afr the churches, and then slinking away " bored," afraid to go home, lest Mr. Fatten should be prosing there, and sick of the yacht, which was lying, looking trim and empty, near the Dockyard Creek. Blobb's conversation (even had Mrs. Snigsby not warned her son against being too familiar iritk his inferiors) was somewhat monotonous, and Blobb now 14* 322 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, usually tpent great part of the day in playing skittles at a homely pastoral public-house called the " Shepherd and Shepherdess," on the Burmola side of the harbor. Alfred, in a word, was hipped. But fortune had something in store for the youth, an excitement for that noble heart and brain. One morning he had just " toiled" (the reader must pardon one more of his expressions) out to saunter as usual, when he saw in the distance a lady, at the sight of whom he involuntarily plucked up his collar, and thought of his studs. She was, as re garded looks, apparently too dark for an English woman, and too light for a Southern ; she walked with an easy, per fectly self-possessed manner, looking in at the shop windows every now and then. Mr. Alfred involuntarily exclaimed to himself (for there is such a process, though I agree with Theodore Hook in thinking "mentally ejaculated" ridiculous,) " What a stunner !" He carelessly crossed the street and strutted after her. She paused at a shop. Alfred paused. She glanced towards him, and met his eye. Hers was a clear straight look, not likely to be startled by the amount of expression which nature had bestowed on Alfred's, but he fancied he saw something encouraging in it. Accordingly, he followed her once more, saw her turn down one of the streets leading from Strada Reale in the direc tion of the Quarantine Harbor, and cater a house. We may be sure he booked the number. I suppose all men have experienced what a relief anything in the shape of an attachment is, if one is at one's wit's end for something to do ; really it is quite a luxury, if one has something to think about, but Alfred in this case was transported. Here was a chance for him at last. He felt that he might do some thing now really " fast." Should she only be the new singer expected at the Opera ! Your gentlemen of the Brickies FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING 323 and Alfred Snigsby school, we may remark, have always the most extraordinary interest in theatrical women in pre ference to others. They are moths that will hover round the foot-lights. This is vice, doubtless ; but it is a pitiable vice that has a dash of snobbery in it. A few names that disgrace the aristocracy, are associated with a few names' that disgrace the stage. Now, Brickies & Co. like Trip in the School for Scandal, their type must imitate their superiors' vice. Hence their follies and their intrigues. Our friend Alfred, for instance, when in London, would have made as much hubbub about a little pug-nosed girl in the Covent Garden ballet as if she had been a Font- anges. But to return. He loitered about the house in the Strada Sotta, glancing at the windows saw the lady ap pear at one looked up met her look again. There were no signs of anybody else atyDut the establishment. It was a dull, quiet street, a long narrow one, at the end of which the water gleamed in a patch, as if seen through a tele scope. He moved away presently, and went home, where he was sadly distrait during dinner-time. His father essayed to brighten him up, by asking him what curiosities of the island he had yet visited for Mr. Snigsby, though sadly bored by " interesting" remains, faithfully visited them, and Mrs. Snigsby went further, and earnestly tried to like them, though both of them affected an edifying indifference to the splendors of the "idolatrous" churches. Alfred had little to say. That same evening he sought the enchanted street again ; the lady was seated at the same window,*which was half open, to let in the cool air during that delicious Medi terranean hour when the Weight of the heat being lifted off the earth, all the freshness and the sweetness rise up every where, like perfume from a vase of rose-leaves when the lid is removed. Alfred sauntered past, mildly humming an 324 SWELL LIFE AT SEA ; OR, operatic reminiscence. The figure moved, and what was his delight when he heard a piano, and a rich brilliant voice begin ! .Days passed, and to the best of Alfred's belief, he was a favored man. At last it struck him, that he would make ,an experiment, which, if successful, would rank him among the most accomplished men of his school. The magic win dow was open, apparently, so late ; it was not very high. Other figures, than that of the beauty, he had never seen there. The street was silence itself. What a fine thing it would be to scale the window by a ladder ! He had seen Miss Delorame (nee Snogg) do it, in blue silk trousers and a doublet, in Brickies' burlesque of Jonah's Gourd ;. or Cut and Come Again. It would be tedious to narrate all his musings on this project. He made up his mind to try it, and having, by a judicious use of cash, procured two faith ful Maltese, who were to bring a ladder at eleven P. M., or so, to the neighboring corner, he fixed his evening, and awaited the hour. About nine he rose from the sofa, where he had been affecting to doze after dinner. "Where are you going, Alf. ?" said his mamma, " Just for a walk in the cool. It is too hot here. Good night." He gained the street, and marched along just a little cold about the heart, as if there was an ice-poultice there, drawing the "pluck" away from it. It was not his time> yet, (but how could he have gone out with propriety much later?) and so he turned into a cafe. In the billiard-room there, a company of seedy, bearded individuals were ' play ing the Russian game. He sat on the benches at the side, drinking negus and watching them ; there was a novelty in the color of the balls and the mode of pl&y which interested him ; and then, you know, to be up to the Russian game would look very well, by and by, at Pott's billiard -rooms, , FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 325 in the Strand. He finished the negus ; he took some brandy and water ; he began to feel rather like a Lovelace, and to be somewhat proud of his meditated exploit. He sallied forth though to be sure he had a little qualm, partly fear, partly something else, as having to pass the family lodgings he saw a light in his mother's bed-room, where, I suppose, Mrs. Snigsby was putting on her night-cap before the look ing glass. This emotion, however, was very temporary. On he went. He passed one cafe, just closing, and could not resist a final little dose of brandy. At last he was in the street. The window was open ; there was a faint light in the room. He found his ladder in its place. He thought for an instant of everything that had encouraged*him to his resolution, and slowly moved the instrument a decently light one from the ground. At the very first start he nearly run it through a parlor window, but he moved with more caution. A moment, and it was in its destined place. His foot was on the lowest step. At this moment who should arrive at the end of the street but the "Infant Phenomenon," Mr. Herbert Flower, of the " Intolerable I" He was accompanied by an ac quaintance, Yelourby, of the " Bustard \ n These two young gentlemen, after having been riding out all the afternoon, had been dining at the Clarendon, had played billiards, and supped on quails, and were now open to any amusement that anybody might have to offer them. Flow er's eye caught the ladder in an instant. " I say, Yelourby, look there 1 Stop a minute, the fel low's getting up. Let us stick at the corner and watch 1" Alfred mounted his long legs looking ludicrous enough and commenced the ascent. When he reached the window there was nobody in the room. He felt very like a burglar However, he quietly got in. There was a small lamp burn ing, on the table, and near it lay a sheet of music. 626 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, But by this time Mr. Flower bad reached the spot, " Gad," he said to Yelourby, " here's a lark." " Let's take away the ladder," said Yelourby, " and he won't be able to get down again." Flower laughed, but the ladder looked quite tempting, and he immediately began ascending it himself. Mr. Al fred's astonishment was immense when his head appeared at the open window. Open flew the door, however, and in rushed a stout old gentleman armed with a large stick, and followed by two or three servants. Alfred involuntarily assumed the attitude of the Chelsea Snob. The old gen tleman flew^ towards the window, catching Mr. Flower just within a step or two of the top. " Good evening, sir," said Mr. Flower, taking off his hat with immense coolness. " You seem to keep open house !" Two servants rushed at Alfred, who gave the -first of them what he subsequently described as " a mouse under the left eye." The stick wildly flourished over the " Phe nomenon," but he ran down two steps, turned inside the ladder, and came down " hand over hand." The police were beginning to assemble, and the " Phenomenon" and his friend disappeared. But Mr. Alfred, after prodigies of valor, was taken prisoner, and locked up. " His mother looked from her lattice high" in vain for him the next morning, but Mr. Snigsby was summoned by a forlorn note to the Court, and purchased the youth's freedom on payment of a fine. Mrs. Snigsby did not quite understand the affair. " Fun is fun, my dear boy," said the excellent woman, " but what did you expect to find in the house ?" Alfred looked foolish. Mr. Snigsby pulled up his neck cloth with a significant "hem." "My dear," he said, "let us be very glad that the affair is settled as it is." FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 32T It was a stiff breeze, Blobb 1 The yacht paid off, and swept away towards the harbor's mouth, The red fair-way buoy bobbed ahead in the distance, like a cherry one moment, the next they were flying past it. The island seemed sinking into the sea as they shot away, from it, gathering itself up with its forts and spires and its white stony rocks, before settling into the deep green waters. Every now and then the shadow of a huge cloud swept over the sea, which seemed to shrink under it as it hurried along. "Well, how do you like her ?" said Alfred. " Oh, capital !" said Flower. He began walking about the deck with the old " Cowslip," air. FJN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 333 " How do you feel, Jigger ?" said Alfred, suddenly " Let's go back !" muttered the youth, making for the cabin. " My dear fellow I" said Flower, "stuff ! Now, do what I tell you," and he and Jigger seized their host, and led him in an attentive manner to the side. " Boy, some brandy 1" Alfred had one wild glance at the heaving, pitiless sea to leeward, and to the long hissing line of thin foam beneath him. Flower's hand was on his forehead. There was a pause, and Jigger came with the cognac.* " Now, old boy there I off with it P said Jigger. " That's a man !" said Flower, patting him. " Never give in to this kind of thing." Alfred was better. He took a little more brandy. He stuck to the deck. The yacht was still jumping about, and it was getting darker over head. " We'll make a sailor of you, old fellow 1" said Jigger. " Now, do you know how to put her about man-of-war fash ion ? Heady about 1" Mr. Blobb came running aft. " What's the matter, sir ?" " You're the proprietor, you know," whispered Flower to Alfred ; " you put her about yourself." " I'll put her about, Blobb," said Alfred. 11 As you please, sir," said Blobb, quietly. There was a calm satire about that man's manner which Alfred stood in dread of. " Mr. Blobb," he said, " take some brandy." " Thank you, sir, I ain't sick." " Go forward, sir," said Alfred, majestically. " Now then, 'ready, oh ready, cry,' " said Flower. "Ready, oh ready," cried Alfred, to the inexpressible delight of the cook's boy, who was watching the proceed ings from the bows. " Helm down," said Jigger. Down flew the helm, and round came the shivering schooner, flapping in the wind , 334 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, over glided the boom. Really, Alfred thought, it was the easiest thing imaginable. Accordingly lunch, more bran dy ! By this time Malta was lying far away ;. the wind kept still rising, Blobb came and reported that the " glass was falling." Oh, they would stand on a little longer, and Alfred was going to tack her again. This time he cried out "Ready, all ready," in a voice that would have done for a three-decker. Everything went right except whew ! a squall came, and carried away the foretop-mast ! "Mr. Blobb !" Alfred cried out, with a pitiable yell. " Hush, man," said Flower, laughing, "it's no great maf- ter !" Blobb came forward, and set the men to work to clear the wreck, which was struggling in a mass of confu sion. Flower bounded down to the cabin for a moment, and came up again, looking a little graver. He then went and looked at the compass, and to windward, and towards Malta, now a cloud almost Alfred's eyes all the time watching him with eagerness. " Well ?" said Alfred, a little pale. ." Why, it's coming on to blow," Flower said. " Coming on ! Don't you call this blowing ?" Flower gave a little laugh, light, bat ominous like a funeral note on a silver hand-bell. " Look at these clouds, my boy ; we call them horse-tails." And he glanced upwards at a group of long, black strips of clouds flying across the sky. " The fact is, we are in for a gale, and we shan't get back to-night." The yacht was too far to leeward to get back in her dis abled state, indeed, and Mr. Alfred had to watch the pro- tess of her being made "all snug." Snug, indeed 1 Never did word appear to him such a misnomer as that. And then he lay on the cabin-lockers, looking out on the place with ghastly eyes, tossed about till he scarcely knew FJN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 336 whether his head belonged to him. He saw, as in a vision, Flower descend and huddle himself up in the corner, with a cold chicken and a crnst ; and then Jigger came down ir his turn, and overhead there was an eternal rattling of ropes, and a long night of dreams followed, till suddenly h* woke, and found everything very still. In the gray light of the morning he saw Flower and Jigger asleep on tht cabin-floor, like the babes in the wood, heaped over with cloaks. He went on deck ; the yacht was at anchor in harbor, but not the harbor of Malta. To the right lay a quaint old town, which seemed to sprawl along the coast, and end on a narrow neck of rocks. A long, low shoro spread far away to the left, vague and marshy, with patches of water gleaming here and there, like fragments of a broken mirror, on the flats. The herbage was of watery origin ; green flags were grouped together, near the shore. But the distance showed a fine pastoral country, and the trees near the town were mulberry trees. It was Sicily, the Idyl of the World. The yacht was in the harbor of Syracuse. It was the nature of Herbert Flower to accommodate himself to circumstances. Circumstances having driven the yacht into Syracuse, kept himself and Mr. Jigger away be yond their leave, and Alfred Snigsby away from his family, why, what was to be done ? Clearly to make the most of the occasion, and see all that was to be seen in the town. Behold the three young gentlemen, then, mounted on mules, #nd trotting away into the country ambling, I should say for ambling is the mule's true pace. The mule is a classical animal, an ecclesiastical animal, a lite rary animal ; he remindeth you of the ancients, of the Jesu its, of Cervantes. Lightly fall the cudgel on the beast which ambles through the pages of Don Quixote ! Away they amble, and now they reach, passing through light groves of pale green trees, on a road where here and 336 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; on, there the country cafe offers hard red wine a kind of glen. There has been an amphitheatre here once ; those long brown stones, half covered by the grass, were the seats of the audience ; but what is that huge carved rock, that lofty fissure in yon hill of stone, crowned by the scarred brow of grass ? 'Tis the famous prison the Ear of Dionysius. It is tall long, ah ! with what propriety it is long eternal type in stone of the long ear of its builder, who has left no monument but the one that proves his infamy ! Well, of course, the prison has become vulgarized now-a- days. There is a chair suspended from the top dangling ludicrously across the mouth of the sonorous cavern wherein you may be hoisted, for a small remuneration, to the private hole in the rock, some eighty feet up. In that hole, says tradition, the tyrant sat. Now, Mr. Alfred Snigsby mounted in the chair, the guides began their task of hoisting, and slowly he ascended towards the place. Nothing could be more delightful than the motion. As you rise the little scene around seems to expand, the little picture unrolls itself, and beauty overflows the boundary ring of the sight. But hillo ! here Alfred had stopped in air. The hole is still above, the earth below ; no motion is made either way. He holloaed loudly ; the melancholy echoes rolled round the cavern, answering, but without sympathy. He pain fully peered down, but saw nobody. And so he must hang till our next chapter. FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. CHAPTER III. To be perched in an undulating, cane-bottomed chair, sixty feet above the level of the earth, before the cavern of an ancient tyrant, cannot be said to be a pleasant situation for a Cockney. There is something in London life which unfits one for adventure. You are so thoroughly secured by the protection of the law, so entirely reliant on the po lice, and so walled in by the tranquil homeliness of com merce, that you lose some natural manliness. You have not the vigor of the ancient life, when a man held his tenure of safety direct from Nature, and not from the joint-stock assurance company of society. One's ancestors, who had a Black Douglas in his castle a few miles off, must have felt more vividly, I imagine, than we do ; their blood was a stronger brew. To be sure, we now-a-days are more com fortable but we know how much the capon loses to qualify him for getting fat ! Mr. Alfred Snigsby peered round more anxiously than ever, when he heard no answer to his shout. His legs dangled absurdly, and a slight breeze arising, he began to turn uncommonly like a spitted goose. But here Mr. Flower -came running down the glen at full speed. " Sni^by 1" "Yes. What's the matter?" shouted Alfred, anxiously. "All right.. Lower away there." Alfred felt himself descending, and was delighted to reach terra firma. "What has been up, old fellow ?" he asked. " Up ! A covey of partridges, to be sure. Why, Jig ger and I have been across these fields after the red-legged villains, saw them down alongside a kind of fence, put them 15 838 SWELL LIFE AT SEA ; OR, up missed. The fact is, you can't do anything without dogs. It's no go." "Yes, that may be true," said Alfred ; "but I've been dangling all the time." " I beg your pardon, old fellow ; these confounded guides would bolt after us, to see the fun." Alfred stretched himself, considerably relieved, for he had begun to have a faint suspicion that something had hap pened serious. Perhaps he thought that Dionysius had seized his friends for trespassing. One might study a long time in the school of Brickies without having much more knowledge than the fear would imply. There was now, to use the Snigsbsean phrase, which gene rally made its appearance at all places they visited, " noth ing more to see." What we see, my dear Snigsby, will de pend on the eyes we bring to it. I can testify, from per sonal observation, that the prison of Socrates consists of three small caves, with a round hole in the top of the mid dle one. It would not occupy four lines of the inventory of a broker, but I found no want of something to see there. The Brickies school of travellers and writers always count the items like shopboys, as, indeed, they some of them have been. They tell you that the Parthenon only consists of a moderate number of defaced columns. Yery true ; and Man is a two-legged animal, with a round head, only that he is plus a soul, as people will one day find out. The guides were paid. Flower stood for a momeirl before the cavern, moralizing. His laugh rolled all around the strange walls, as he turned away. The sound might sug gest moralizing to others ; it was the laugh typical of the youth and the satire of modern Europe, and in all the cav erns of the past that laugh is raising, and will raise thun der ! They mounted their mules and ambled towards the towu FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 339 again. At the shore they saw a fine mulberry tree ; under the deep, dark green leaves, the rich black berries were sweltering, ripe, pouting at jou, like the lips of a young JEthiop. Flower's eye fell on it. He gave a wild excla mation as he approached, and then he bargained with the proprietor to be allowed to perch himself there " like a cor morant," and devour ad libitum for a shilling. Neither Alfred nor Jigger felt inclined to join. So the youth mounted the tree with the aid of a " back n from Alfred, and there he sat, perfectly happy, for three quarters of an hour, and came down with a mouth as bloody as a cannibal's. The others, indeed, accelerated his descent, by shouting to him they were lying on the grass, (smoking, of course,) hard by that there was a fair wind. Indeed, it was high time to take advantage of that circumstance, and be off again to Malta. So they left shore without calling on the consul, even, which was a strange omission, for Herbert Flower usually exacted the official attention paid to people of mature years. He would have liked to have gone to din ner at the consulate in full dress to have talked politics with the functionary, to have finished a bottle of port at dessert, and to have gone up-stairs to tea and flirtation with the family. Once more they gained the Paragon's deck. Blobb ! Where was Blobb ? " I shouldn't wonder if he's gone to see the antiquities I" said Jigger, with a laugh. (And why not, my dear Jig ger?) " Ha, ha," laughed Alfred" that's a good idea." Mr. Blobb made, his appearance just at dusk. He was somewhat red in the face and confused in his ideas. Indeed, he spoke of the vessel as the Dream, and appeared to fancy that he was still sailing that remarkable yacht for Lord Blory. Blobb cherished the memory of his lordship with 340 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, real affection. Lord Blory lived half his life afloat, luxu riously enjoying himself all over the world. He was the last of a long line, desperately impoverished, and too proud (bless him for that !) to marry for money. How he man aged to go on as he did, made those who envied his fortune wonder. But some people do with their ancestors as the papists do with their saints work miracles with their relics. And Blory did go on very comfortably, till the skull over his hatchment in Grosvenor-street informed the connoisseurs in heraldry that the race was extinct ; and the family vault in shire opened for the last time. " Weigh, Mr. Blobb," said Alfred, with a calm air of command. Mr. Blobb gave the needful orders, going about, shaking his head, with a maudlin expression. The anchor was raised, and the yacht glided away in the twilight. Luckily, there was a good fresh breeze right on the quarter, and so she held on straight for Malta. They passed no thing that night but a few speronari, beating back to Sicily from Yaletta harbor. As they neared Malta, they fell in with the Roarer, Captain Bulrush, hovering about with apparently no distinct object. Bulrush was the comic Yan- derdecken of the ocean. His brig the Roarer was the comic Phantom Ship. Destiny had apparently decreed that he should expiate his sins by cruising about with too much sail on in a state of beer. He was sometimes hovering about for days, when he ought to have been in harbor. One of the most touching things in story is the fate of the Flying Dutchman but only thirk of the fate of the Flying Dutch man's creditors 1 The Bulrush hailed the yacht, but Flower sternly "stood on,'^ and in an hour they were at the har bor's mouth. So in the yacht swam, hauling down the gaff topsail and swimming along slowly. Before them the harbor stretched away gleaming glittering like a sword sheathed in the FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 341 stone scabbard of the white island. The marina was fringed with vessels with their sails loosed. The men-of-war, too, had loosed their sails to have the thin night dew on them, burned up by the scorching sun of the noon. And such a noon ! It made the almond trees languid, and put fever in the blood of the blood-oranges. The Paragon glided almost close under the stern of the Intolerable ; and on the poop was visible the gleam of a green parasol a parasol green as the veil of a houri, if Mrs. Snigsby, its possessor, will permit me the rather " improper" comparison. Alfred saw at once that sfye was anxiously awaiting him, and had been suffering what is called "great mental uneasiness." If one could calculate the number of relatives who are suffering that well-known pain from similar causes at this moment, one would have an odd statistical return ; and next, one would like to know the aggregate cost of their luncheons. The Paragon anchored a great deal nearer the Intoler able than Mr. Flower liked. The commander was now to be faced, and two nights' absence accounted for. It was no use now to get up a story about sudden illness at the house of the Blocklys, who would not let you go. No, no. The yacht's return had been duly reported by the signal officer at the commander's particular request. So on board Mr. Flower walked, with as much coolness as was consistent with his visions of " stopped leave" and a " wigging." Com mander was a perfect artist at wigging. If you argued with .him during the operation, it made him worse. If you said openly, with the most polite submissiveness, " Well, sir, it shan't happen again," he came down on you like a shot with " Not with impunity, sir 1" But the commander was not on deck, and some very extraordinary operations were going on there operations of a character not very nautical. Let us fancy that Alfred 342 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, has been embraced by his mamma on the poop, to his unut terable confusion, publicly, and look round us. The quar ter-deck guns were rolled forward (by-the-by, a certain cap tain once capsized them to teach the marines to march oxer rough ground !) and the ropes all coiled up and off the deck ; and beds new beds from the purser's stores were strewn about, among an infinite variety of flags. I regret to add that a number of little lamps, such as one usually associates with the idea of Yauxhall, were lying in a row on the poop "Why, hallo !" said Flower, seeing the confusion around, " is there an execution in the ship ?" There was a loud laugh at this notion from a group of officers who were standing by the gangway ; and, indeed, there was a certain Titanic jocosity in the notion of any body's "putting a man" in a three-decker! It showed a cheerful disposition in a youth who had " broken his leave" by forty-eight hours. " Hillo, Phenomenon ! Ah, Flower of Flory ! how arc you ?V were the various salutations which greeted him. " All right. Where's old ?" Old approached a moment afterwards. "Come on board, sir," said Flower. " I regret ex " " Of course, of course," interrupted the -commander, " you are always regretting something. You could not get back before the gale, of course not. You were obliged to help a ship in distress " " I beg your pardon, sir w " Of course, you beg my pardon but why incur the ne cessity of doing so ? No. You were enjoying your cwra- coa," said the commander, awfully imitating what he fan cied a dandy tone of voice " ongtre rose, amee /" he added and really he burlesqued French perfectly ! The Phenomenon looked very demure. FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 343 "Well, go away," sale, the commander, "go away, Mr Flower." ! Lucky Herbert Flower ! ' For an approaching svent had cast something pleasanter than a shadow before. The In tolerable in fact but this is the proper moment to invoke the shade of Benbow. Shade of Benbow then the In tolerable was going to give a ball ! This was why the guns were rolled forward, and the very capstan unshipped ; why the flags were dragged from be low, &c. The beds and flags were to be made into otto mans on the hatchways, duly shut up with gratings. The officers were "on hospitable thoughts intent." The ship was expecting her orders to come home soon, and they re solved to leave behind them the fragrance of a hospitable memory. The Snigsbys were invited, and accepted, very cordially, the invitation. It was extraordinary to see how good, solid Mr. Snigsby pardoned by this time the playful extravagances of naval life. Often had he, in full vestry, indignantly denounced an idle.navy ! Often had he fiercely inquired backed, too, by the luminous Snogg why the Mediterranean fleet was not sent to sea ? Not unfre- quently he had hinted that the service was kept up to sup port an oligarchy. But now he found these monsters " fattening on the vitals of the people "^-to be just a good- natured, gentlemanly, off-handed set of fellows, ready to give dinners, or eat them, with anybody thrown in their way. Mr. Snigsby could not hate them no, he gladly ac cepted the present invitation. The preparations proceeded on board the Intolerable. The little lamps gradually assumed the form of the letters Y. R. The main-deck was prepared for the supper, every body declaring it the proper place, always excepting Bob Ruggles, the second master, whose wishes not running in 344 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, the ball way, led him to condemn the proceeding as con trary to all discipline. And there was still a wound rank ling in the breast of Bob. "Vyhen the Intolerable was at Naples, some time before this, the officers were asked to a royal ball. But the second master and master's assistants indeed the genus Bung (to use the naval name) were not included. Bob went about the ship, indignantly inquiring "why?" to the inextinguishable delight of Herbert Flower and the other youngsters. Herbert caused great amuse ment by the jrefined impertinence with which he consoled Bob on the occasion. " It's all part of a confounded system, Bob," he said j " I myself don't approve of those social distinctions, you know, (here he shrugged his little shoulders inimitably,) a mere antiquated affair, but somehow things are all based on 'em. Eh, Rivers ?" " But what do you mean, Flower, hey ? Aint I aboard of this ship as an officer and a gentleman, and equal to any body?" It was glorious to see the little villains gazing seriously on Bob. " Why, of course, you're an officer and a gentleman, Bob. I suppose you know it is some confounded consideration of family. I say nothing, Bob, only you know the nature of aristocracy, Bob." And so poor Kuggles went away with a burning heart from his affectionate sympathizers, who roared jovially over the incident, as they smoked the evening cigar. Of course Bob Kuggles could not be expected to love balls or the sort of people who frequent them. Everybody was asked to this ball, that was one comfort. The captain's cabin was abundantly supplied with refresh ments for the benefit of quiet old fellows ; fellows whoso dancing days are over, and who just talk about professional FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 345 points and sporting, over sherry, and leave their' daughters to " amuse themselves." The dusk came on, and then boat after boat began to leave the shore and the ships. Luckily it was a beautiful night. So, thankfully ejaculated Mrs. Snigsby, as she wrapped herself in an immense shawl, and leant back in a shore boat. So, thankfully ejaculated Alfred, putting on his gloves in ditto. Mr. Snigsby said nothing ; he had a notion that it was chilly, but how could he venture to say that a Mediterranean night was chilly be fore Mrs. S. ? " Bless me I" exclaimed Mrs. Snigsby, as they gained the deck, shrouded in with awnings, brilliant with flags, and glittering with lights. " Bless me, you would never think it was a man-of-war." " Never, at any time, my dear madam 1" said Herbert Flower, politely offering his arm, and looking like a pigmy by the side of her majestic form. Two or three people within hearing of the Phenomenon chuckled. The commander, who guessed that it was a sar< casm, from the distance, summoned Mr. Flower to him. " Not quite so conspicuous, Mr. Flower. Not quite so conspicuous, sir 1" he said, with his loftiest manner. Herbert was annoyed, he did not like to be snubbed, and that, too, just as little Lucy Beddoes was passing by. Lucy Beddoes was a " nice little girl," according to Flow er's phraseology. " Isn't it a shame ?" he said to her, when he got her arm. " That's the way we're treated, you see, in this profession." "I hope he has not hurt your feelings?" said Lucy, simply. " Hurt the (he was almost saying, hurt the devil) Hurt my feelings 1 No. He bores me, though, by his con founded impertinence. Ah, Snigsby 1 Let me introduce my friend, Mr. Alfred Snigsby." 15* 346 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, Alfred was superbly dressed. Lucy Beddoes knew thej bad a yacht. Alfred had a very gracious little bow. She could not help respecting a youth of " expectations." Not that she was an atom mercenary, only helpless, poor thing ! You observe that girls must, many of them, put love out of the question, now-a-days. Political economy demands it and is not that an answer to everything ? Alfred's mamma called him away at this moment. " Well, how do you like my friend Snigsby ?" said Flower, chuckling. " He is very nicely dressed,' 7 said Lucy demurely. " A great deal of money, I assure you," Flower said, " and he is the only child. What say you ? Let's go halves 1" " For shame !" said the girl, laughing, and blushing a little. " I'm serious ! We'll divide him between us. You shall have half the money and him into the bargain !" But here began the music, and interrupted the pure play fulness of this child of nature. The company were crowd ing the deck. You were sheltered by a high awning, and by flags of all hues. The effect was a bright lightness the temperature delicious. Nature helped the artificial to per fection. You just got enough air to keep you pleasantly cool. If there happened to be a rent in the spacious trem bling roof, you saw a star through it and the champagne must have been bad, if you could not say something pretty to your partner apropos of that ! Unless, to be sure, she was the daughter of a captain in command, and too con scious of her high rank to encourage any playfulness of observation. Flirtation, were the subject treated (not by a cockney parvenu of course) by some gentleman and scholar with humor, sentiment, and sense, would afford matter for a FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 347 delightful essay. Willis would be a dash too flippant ; Sir Edward is becoming a little too grave ; and Thackeray would tinge it with the melancholy of his deep reflection. But, really, Flirtation deserves a commentator. It bears the same relation to love that a belief in fairies does to reli gion. One might compare it to the old tournaments mimicries of real war but not only mimicries dangerous wounds have been received at many a " gentle passage of arms" as the old writers called them. Flirtation is dis tinctly to be commended. Is it not a recognition though but in sportiveness of the existence of that divine sentiment which relates the sexes to each other ? 'Tis an escape from the too solid realities of "fortunes" and "expectations," a playful butterfly flight over their iron walls. And Flirtation will reveal to you, perhaps, the higher sentiment in time. Franklin discovered the relation between lightning and electricity by a simple schoolboy kite. Much has been learnt about love's heaven by the playful idling of Flirta tion. But to return : for the band on the poop is playing awa) merrily. The quadrilles are crowded. The " youngsters " are enjoying themselves immensely excepting those of the " Borderer," for Captain Plebbe makes them dance with his plain daughters " to a man, sir, every one of us," says little Jogg, protesting that it is disgraceful. The quarter-deck is walled in from the ship's crew, but they peer through inter stices the grave boatswain looking at the flying damsels with the mingled awe and merriment of Tarn o' Shanter at the Kirk of Alloway. " Stand back, there," says Toadyley to a sailor or two who are inclined to 4 obtrude on the hal lowed ground. Toadyley wants to know "what things are coming to," when the aristocracy can be subjected to this kind of thing ? Indeed, the poor fellow had plenty to do> for Toadyley began by disposing of all the shawls with th " Playing at' your namesake loo ! Alfred, I mustintrO' duce you to Captain Beddoes." Alfred said he would be very happy, though he was a little frightened. But at this time Jigger mysteriously withdrew his friend Herbert from the group. " Come along," he said, " there are a few of us going to have a snug glass of bitter beer in the gun room. I'm hot and bothered." Herbert was just going to assent, but his eye caught tho figure of a lady on the poop. It is so delightfully cool there on these occasions when the night is lovely ! Herbert quietly glided away. The lady was sitting on a chair by herself Mrs. Plumer her name was ; a widow travelling to " forget " and succeeding ! FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 349 Mrs. Plumer was a very clever woman and decidedly good-looking well-shaped, decisive features she had. She liked Flower as a " character/' and motioned to him to sit down beside her. "Ah, good evening," said Flower. "I did not know you were on board. I have not seen you for a long time." " My father has not been well." " I hope he's getting better. I am just come to have a chat with you. This is the place for flirting, you know, Mrs. Plumer. I can flirt with -perfect safety. Flory is despe rately mortgaged, and nobody would, could, or should accept me, unless they had plenty of money. I should like to water our ancestral roses with a shower of gold !" " That's a romantic sentiment, I am sure, Mr. Herbert Flower." " It is a perfectly truthful one, believe me. Now if I had the wealth of my friend Snigsby" and Herbert gave a pompous burlesque accent to the three words. " Snigsby what a curious name ! Are they new arri vals here ?" " Not particularly new, but they are very rich. C^me in their own yacht." "Is there not a Miss Snigsby ?" asked the lady. " No. By-the-by, he ought to have a sister ! But I wonder you have never met them." " Why, we have not been out much lately. You know we moved from our old place." " I didn't know that." " Yes, to Strada Sotta." Flower gave a little srart. " Let me see leads out of the Strada Reale towards the Quarantine harbor, don't it ?' ; "Just so. And by-the-by, now I think of it," said Mrs. Plumer, laughing slightly and coloring a little, "an odd thiflg happened there a week or two ago." She paused and 350 SWELL LIFE AT SEA: OR, laughed again. " One night after I had been playing but I must tell you, first, that a day or two before that, I had once or twice met an English youth in the street " There was an exquisite gravity about Flower at that moment. " What manner of youth ?" he asked. " Rather tall and what you call * loud' in his dress. He might be a gentleman who was silly, or a bagman who was ambitious." Flower covered his face with his pocket-handkerchief, as if his nose had begun to bleed. Suddenly he jumped up with a " pray excuse me," and ran down the poop ladder ! A dance was just over, and the group breaking up. He met Jigger. " Where is young Snigsby ?" he asked. " Saw him just this moment. There he is 1" Flower went in the direction indicated, and found Alfred sitting on one of the ottomans arranged on the hatchway gratings, next a comfortable old lady, who occupied the entire double-headed eagle of Russia with her portly person. He was glad to get away. Flower was wanting to intro duce him to a most agreeable person. He must come. Mrs. Snigsby, who watched him from a distance, and who, by- the-by, was very gloomy herself while Snigsby, pe^e, had doomed an elderly gentleman to a dose of the currency felt quite glad to see her son receive so much attention. " This way, old fellow," said Herbert, leading him to Mrs Plurner. Alfred stopped short, and turned deadly pale. Mrs. Plumer saw the whole case in a moment, and bowed most simply. " I see, Mr. Flower," Alfred said. " I see it all. Tin a gentleman although " he stuttered and gasped horribly "It's too bad " FUN, FBIGATES, AND YACHTING. 351 Flower took hold of his wrist, and pulled him round. " Hush, man, for God's sake mind what you are about I It's the change of air from the quarter-deck, Mrs. Plumer, that affects him." " Pray sit down, Mr. Snigsby," she said, kindly. " What a beautiful night it is." Her manner was exquisitely contrived to make him fancy she was utterly ignorant of the cause of his agitation. How Flower admired her for it ! Alfred stammered out, " I have been a little ill." And sitting down, he began to feel quieter, and to feel attracted as he had felt when he first saw her. He thought, " Well, she does not remember me, really." For Mr .. Alfred (Brickies and Co. behold your pupil !) had no great opinion of the female intellect, poor fellow. And then, with the most innocent folly, he began babbling away quite freely to the lady, who laughed not at his jokes, but at his sad mistake. Herbert Flower, who had been afraid of a scene at first, enjoyed the present phase immensely. And at that moment a sensation began on deck, like the commotion in the theatre at Pompeii, in Bulwer's novel, when Arbaces pointed to the smoke issuing from Vesuvius, for everybody heard the word " Supper." CHAPTER IY. MR. HERBERT FLOWER bounded away to take down little Lucy Beddoes. Mr. Alfred Snigsby offered his arm to Mrs. Plumer, and off they went together. He was in a pleasura ble tumult of excitement, poor fellow, what in a merrier mood he would have called " spoony." It is observable, that the school of Brickies, who see nothing holy in any sentiment, are always made greater fools by what elevates 352 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OK, the rest of the world. The gods are just, and avenge them selves on the proper occasion. When the Bricklesarian writers, for example, give up pertness for pathos, the dogs become as common-place as mutes. When they try poetry or love-matters, they describe like auctioneers, and introduce us to dowdies. It is their consummate misfortune that they cannot get out of their own offensive briskness without becoming bores. Alfred really became the very thing he most emphatically contemned, a muff, on this occasion. He had not the incli nation to try his favorite lively style of conversation. Mrs. Plumer, too, saw farther into everything he started as a subject than himself, and bewildered him immensely. All he knew was that he admired her very much ; that he had a great anxiety to ke^p talking to her, without knowing what to talk about ; and that he was helpless. Somehow he did not seem to advance at all with his attachment. She resisted him by some unseen influence, like that which one has read of as keeping off intruders from particular rooms in enchanted castles. He would have liked just to be able to say, " I love you. I shall have an immense deal of money, much more than those nobs there. Be mine and marry me !" I am far from supposing, by-the-by, that such a straightforward course would not please many lovely beings ; nay, I am not certain that it would not be a much more respectable way of doing business than the ordinary one. But we could not expect Alfred to set such an example of originality. No. There he stood (a good deal in the way of some of the guests) the Tantalus of the banquet. Meanwhile, the said banquet was going on very bravely. A fjew sturdy revellers whom nobody had seen till it began, were mauling the architecture of jellies and raised pies, like Turks among the Acropolis. Captain Plebbe of the Bor derer kept his youngsters pretty busily employed supplying FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 353 the before-mentioned plain daughters with all "the delica cies of the season," as the Popgun of course called the dishes. The poor boys attracted a good deal of attention among observant people in consequence, and Herbert Flower made an immense sensation- by calling out " waiter" to one of them in a marked manner. The youngster was in a furious rage of course ; several people laughed. As for Plebbe, he was perfectly savage, and glared on Mr. Flower like a demon. " Really, you ought to be .more careful about the opinion of your superiors," said Miss Beddoes to Herbert. " My superiors," said Herbert, " indeed." " Now you know he is your superior, Herbert," said the sensible Lucy, whose papa was a very worthy captain of artillery. " He is a captain, if you mean that, of course. But his rank as Plebbe is not equal to my rank as Flower," said the youth majestically. " Plebbe is who-knows-who, somewhere about Portsmouth ; I am Flower of Flory ! I quarter the shields of peers, and I date from Edward the First *!" and so saying, Mr. Flower tossed off a glass of champagne with the air of an Emperor. After all, the sentiment embodied in the young gentle man's speech has an existence afloat, nor is the said exist ence favorable to discipline. When the service does go to the devil, as we are told by so many worthy officers that it will, depend on it, it will be at its most aristocratic stage. Lucy smiled and shook her head. She knew Flory well. Her father had once been stationed at the neighboring county town. Flower senior had twice written to Herbert, to tell him to be very civil to the Beddoeses, and not to fall in love with Lucy, whatever he did. " Look at your friend Snigsby," she said, smiling. Flower glanced along the table. Alfred was the picture of spoon- 354 SWELL Lira AT SEA; OR, iness, as his school call it, and the fai$ widow was talking with uncommon animation to a group round her. One often wonders how some survivors must tremble at the word RESURGAM on a hatchment ! To be sure, it now-a-days generally passes for meaning nothing. One more polka ! The supper table was a splendid wreck, and the deck strewed with crushed flowers here and there. There was a dim feeling of chilliness coming on on deck too. The daylight came faintly over the island, and a stray breeze came freshly in, cool from miles of sea. The awning had fallen in at one part, and the flags shifted from their places into disorderly gaudiness. There was a general murmur about shawls, and the necessity of getting boats ready. " Ship's boats, indeed, ha ! to land dancers, ha !" Such was the growl of the Bung, from his hammock in the cock-pit, as he heard the " pipe " sound. Herbert Flower put on his friend Lucy's shawl, playfully and fraternally. I am afraid he never thought, as the youths who lead Herbert Flower-ish lives ought to think, of the sad contrast between themselves and pure, fine-hearted girls. Flower escorted her to a boat, in company with her father, who had just emerged from the sung cabin. The old gentleman was very red and silent, and apparently firmly brooding over some thing which employed his whole faculties. He leaned rather heavily on the arm, considering what a light little arm it was, which Lucy held to him as he stepped into the boat. So far Herbert saw ; half-an-hour afterwards you might have seen a little figure, like a happy ghost, gliding away with papa's candle leaving papa snoring in safety and putting papa's Seltzer water within easy reach and then retiring te its own place of rest the happy beautiful ghost ! The Intolerable's 'deck was a scene of confusion, and pale faces, and limp curls. Boat after boat was sent away full, FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 355 and the ship's boats being insufficient in number,' shore boats were summoned. " Paragon's boat !" shouted Alfred from the gangway, with the air of a naval captain. That villain Blobb had sent the dingy, only ! How could that boat take on shore the family plus Mrs. Plumer, and a female friend, to whom the gallant Alfred offered a passage ? At last Blobb sent nothing excited Blobb to unseemly haste the large boat. In they all got, and off went the boat, keeping alongside another one loaded with merry guests. A young gentleman of the Rifles gaily threw off an operatic burst of song. Alfred was in the highest spirits, burning with conceit, and with that liquid embodied conceit champagne. " Boat there ; out of the way, that boat 1" A green and red shore boat came heavily steering apparently right at the Paragon's boat. " Yes," resumed Alfred and off he went with a youp, youp youp, tra la la, la la ! So I presume to attempt the notation of a remarkable chorus at all events. "Meester Sneegsby," cried a Maltese voice from the strange boat ; "Master Sneegsby, pay me, signor !" If the reader has never heard the peculiar shrill "pay" or " poy" me of a Maltese I hope he never may ! There is an unearthly mingled with a Hebraic twang in it, impossi ble to describe and equally impossible to tolerate. ,Both boats of guests were astonished. " Keep that fel low off. Break his head !" cried somebody. " I owe no man a shilling, sir," cried Mr. Snigsby. "No, sar de tall young gentleman, sir I Meester Sneegsby!" Alfred rose up in the boat. His face grew ghastly in the daylight the fresh Mediterranean daylight. "Pay me for bring de ladder to Sir add Sotta, Meest&r Sneegsby .'" What a catastrophe ! Alfred distinctly remembered that 356 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, there was a balance a balance due the Maltese from that night of humiliation. He was sobered and shivered ; stam mered out something flung some money into the terrible boat more money by far than he even needed to have paid. There was a silence as they passed on. Poor Mrs. Snigsby ! Alfred's heart bled to do him justice as he saw her white handkerchief employed. Mrs. Plumer's veil was down. She said nothing appeared to hear nothing. Mr. Snigsby leaned back in his seat, and looked like a con demned criminal. There was not much jollity after this event. Some ru mor about the ladder story had oozed out. The hero was now revealed. However amused the gentlemen were, they could not laugh. The ladies of course were " shocked." But soon the boats reached the landing place. There they separated into parties, and the time came to bid Mrs. Plumer good night She was a strong-minded woman ; she found two minutes in which to say to Mr. Alfred " two words." "I shall not, I suppose," Alfred said, ruefully, "see you see you again, Mrs. Plumer." " Candidly," said Mrs. Plumer, " I fear not under the circumstances. My father " Alfred's jaw fell. He remembered the stout old gentle man ! "Then I shall not, I suppose, accompany you to the door?" "No," said Mrs. Plumer, " nor the window, I hope." For the life of her Mrs. Plumer could not resist that parting shot. The groups separated. And off went the Snigsbys home. " I wish I was dead," Alfred broke silence with as they strolled home. FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 357 , " You're in a fair way to obtain your wishes, sir," said his father. " Don't be cruel to him, Mr. Snigsby," said his mother. "Poor Alfl" " I don't want to be called Alf. I'm too old for these absurdities." " And ought to be, sir, for your other ones," said his father, again. Mr. Snigsby once more had the best of it. This last event decided Mr. Snigsby, who reflected on the matter, that they ought to take a cruise. He was getting tired of Malta. Those who remember his late exertions in the great " Papal aggression " question will know how often he alluded to his own " personal observation of the effects of a debasing superstition." The fact is, Mr. Snigsby was bored by the bells of Malta and sick of the sight of shovel hats. Mr. Fatten, of St. Kilderkin, though courteous, was not now cordial altogether. "No man respected Mr. Snigsby more," he said, it is true and nobody can deny that he received his donation to the church in a friendly spirit ! But still the Snigsbys were only " good worldly people," in the Reverend Mr. Fatton's parlance. "Well meaning people, undoubtedly," little Fatton added, "but !" Somehow they wanted that sable bloom which distinguished the Fatton clique. And the little fat-headed man, though most polite when they met, came not to the hospitable rooms in Strada lleale so often as before. Possibly Mr. Fatton had doubts about the state of Mr. Snigsby's soul : possibly he was too much occupied with taking care of his own though there was not so very much of it. Then the squadron were going to sea for a cruise. And gome people thought it was quite time. The youngsters were sadly dunned. Alfred was on board the " Intolerable n one morning, when an unhappy Maltese was pelted in the cockpit with clothes brushes. 358 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, Accordingly orders were sent on board to Blobb Blobb the stately to prepare for s^a. " They never knows their own minds," said the sulky veteran, " never for a hinstant !" But he went growling about and doing whatever was need ful. The squadron were all lying with top-gallant yards crossed, and the studding-sail gear rove to speak nautical- ly. The admiral issued a long un-readable general order about discipline and sent the fleet to sea under the senior captain remaining on shore himself. There was a fine scene of activity one morning. The " Intolerable " bumped against the "Regina;" the "Bustard" let a top-gallant yard tumble down, and it went bang through the deck ; the "Lotos" got aground; the "Struldbrug" split a sail. Out they all got, however, ultimately, and commenced sail ing in columns, which order they maintained by the aid of the senior captain perpetually signalling certain ships to "keep their station" which with ships as with families is just the most difficult thing to get done with accuracy. As often as the signal was made, so often the captain " wigged " the lieutenant, the lieutenant the midshipman " the cat began to worry the, rat, the rat began to " &c., according to the well known process among cats, rats, and men. Mr. Blobb made the necessary preparations, and the Snigsbys once more embarked on the sea. It was evening when they went on board the yacht. Mr. Blobb had mounted the "green patch" again over his eye. There was something mysterious about that patch, and it seemed to bode no good. They were to start next morning, after " a good night's sleep." But -what was Mr. Snigsby's astonishment when waking in the middle of the night, he heard not " the night fowl crow," as Tennyson's Mariana did about that time, but a louder and more disagreeable hubbub. There FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 359 was a shuffling noise indeed audible. Mr. Snigsby shuffled on some clothes, crawled up stairs, (to use his own phrase,) and found the vessel under sail. His first impression was, that Mr. Blobb was going to take them all off, and sell them for slaves. " Mr. Blobb !" It was pitch dark. Snigsby listened. " Mr. Blobb 1" " Hush ! Oh, it's you, sir." " Why, what the devil are you about, Mr. Blobb ? I told you we didn't want to sail till the morning." " Mr. SAnigsby," said Blobb, speaking thick, while the perfume of rum hovered in the night air ; "you are a man and a brother. 7 ,' Mr. Snigsby's heart sank within him at this commence ment. "I wash left an orphan, Mr. SAnigsby," maundered on the skipper, "and brought up to sea-faring, as my father before me. First of all, I sAerved along with " "Never mind, Mr. Blobb/' said Mr. Snigsby, fegling his utter dependence on the terrible skipper. "But why are we a-weigh now ?" " SMop all in good time, Mr. SAnigsby. I swerved many' years in revenue cutters and gentlemen's yachts. When I sailed the 'Dream' for Lord Blory oh, Mr. SAnigsby, that was a man." Here Blobb's feelings induced a hiccup, which accompanied him from that point. " Pe- sAended of noble ancestors, Mr. SAnigsby, his lordship was a hindividual of the aristocracy." " Of course, Mr. Blobb," said his hearer, shivering a little in the night air. " And aboard of that yacht, Mr. SAnigsby, I contracted an unfortunate alliansh with a young 'ooman. We was very appy for a while, though belonging to the lower orders, Mr SAnigsby." 360 SWELL LIFE' AT SEA; OR, "' Why not ?" said Mr. Snigsby, philosophically. " But go on, Mr. B^Jpbb." "That female," said Blobb, with solemnity, " is now in Malta ; come from Gozo, where she resides." "Well." " Yes, sir ; and there's a very good reason in England," said Blobb lowering his voice, " why I can't have much to say to her." Mr. Snigsby saw how the case was, and why Mr. Blobb preferred sailing in the dead of night. This was very unfor tunate, but what was to be done ? How could he get rid of him, and get a new skipper ?" He paced about the deck, musing. The yacht was right out at sea, floating lightly on over long blue waves. It was a clear moonlight night ; all was still in the cabins below, where Mrs. Snigsby was forgetting her troubles, and Alfred his cares. Mr. Blobb was perched at the weather gangway gigantically calm. Suddenly, Mr. Snigsby looking to windward saw a large object glaring through the night. He strained his eyes. The moon glided out of some thick clouds at the moment. The light revealed a sail. It. was a brig with all saiL set ; her white canvas gleamed through the dusk. But there was no sign of life visible on board her ; she held on calm, silent, and relentless as fate. Was she the doomed vessel whose hell is the eternal sea, in which the mariners' hair grow- eth gray at the wheel, as they beat on evermore in storm and calm with a life as restless as the water that bears them, till they are too weary to speak to one another any more and their garb is antiquated, and the casual mariner crosseth himself as he sees the relics of a long dead generation mov ing gloomily on their deck ? Was she that mournful spectre of the ocean, the Phantom Ship ? Mr. Snigsby paused and stared. And the vessel neared them. FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 361 'Twas the "Roarer," Captain Bulrush. Yea, 'twas the Phantom Ship of the Mediterranean. The captain slum bered in the cot, and the lieutenant in the berth, and the officer of the watch in the hammock nettings, and the quar ter-master on the gun-slide, and the mariner at the wheel ! Steadily holdeth she on, without reference to the laws of place, or the decisions of the Admiralty Court. " H 11 !" roared out Mr. Blobb, suddenly. " Port the helm ! What are they at I" Mr. Snigsby seemed to see a monster looming out of the darkness to swallow up his yacht. He shut his eyes; he heard a crash forward. The brig had carried away their jib-boom. The " Paragon's" crew came running up, and poor Mr. Snigsby heard a voice cry out in his cabin. The phantom had glided on into the darkness. Mr. Blobb was howling over the wreck and invoking horrid vengeance on the cap tain of the brig. * Mr. Snigsby ran down the companion, tumbling over Alfred at the bottom of the ladder. He found Mrs. Snigsby in high alarm. They deplored their unhappy position they bewailed their dependence on Blobb. Meanwhile that officer, who was a very good sailor, was getting things put to rights again. When the family finally emerged in the morning, after breakfast, they found all square. It was a beautiful day, and the squadron were lying on the green water in a gigantic line, with glittering sails looking like a row of castles on the border of an immense prairire. 16 362 SWELL LIFE AT SEA ; OR CHAPTER Y. ABOUT this time the "affairs of Europe" had, as their custom is, got into some phase of embarrassment which required the presence of a squadron in the eastern parts of the Mediterranean. I don't exactly remember the circum stances. I believe that an infringement of the Treaty of Adrianople, joined to the marauding propensities of Grivas, completed by the Forte's withdrawal of its approval from the Pasha of Snobkali, were the leading causes of the dis turbance. How these influenced each other, or, indeed, what they meant, was not easy to discover. At all events, a squadron had to be sent eastward. A 'verbosa et grandis epistola came from the admiral to the senior captains of the cruising ships. It was just the subject for Sir Booby Boo ing to expatiate upon. Sir Booby had-a decided talent for writing long dispatches. The duller the dispatch, too, the longer it always was like a deep-sea lead in proportion as the lead was heavy, the line was long ! Accordingly the Intolerable, 110, the Struldbrug, 90, the Yerdant, frigate, and brig Lotos separated from the fleet, and made away towards the Archipelago. What more natural than that the Paragon should go with them ? Blobb being asked whether he knew that part of the Mediterra nean, replied, " like Alcibiades !" That name was a rem nant of a small store of classical information which the eccentric skipper had acquired while sailing the " Symbol' 7 for a. little clique of Oxford men, who cruised about the Mediterranean bewailing the Dead Past. They were a sect of little bilious pietists, who wore sham hair-shirts, were always blaming the Greek Church for separating from Rome, and had some odd theory about the " Seven Candle sticks." They came home, wrote little poems, journals, and FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 363 pamphlets, dedicating to each other all round, and dating " Feast of the Holy Block," or " Eve of St. Kilderkin." Harmless little sect ! but I am digressing. Mr.* Snigsby, of course, was highly anxious to see those classic scenes, the history of which had touched him so sharply (as the birch of his school could have testified) in his youth. Alfred was ready to go ; anything rather than be bored by Malta, he said. , His mother was delighted to think, as she said, that he would recover a, free fancy in a still softer clime. The dear, conventional old lady ! She was always chewing the cud of some melancholy or other. She wrote home long letters to her relatives the Bibbs, informing them of her state of mind, and containing the placidest conventional nonsense about what they saw and did. She was, too, always in extremes. She would write of " the great kindness of the Fattons," because Mrs. F. had been kind enough to come and eat her lunch with her ; and that "dear .Christian," Mr. F., on the strength of Mr. F. 7 s sermons, which were produced as a newspaper writer produces " leaders," because it was his profession. She now dipped a little into Lord Byron's works, of which she had been wont to fight rather shy, and prepared for the romance of the East. So away went the "Paragon," in company with the squadron ; and whenever there was a calm or light wind, Mr. Snigsby had the honor of receiving distinguished company to dinner for the Admiral had not allowed the squadron to come into harbor before starting, under pretence of the urgency of the case, and the captains of the Intolerable and Struldbrug had fallen short of fowls and vegetables. In consequence of this, old , of the Intolerable a very knowing card sent one of his boats one morning to the Paragon, with his compliments and a melon. Mr. Snigsby had at least ten melons hanging up on board, but "how kind of Captain !" exclaimed Mrs S ; 364 SWELL LIFE AT SEA ; OR, so the captain was asked to come and partake of his melon, and he did partake of it, and of two bottles of Lafitte into the bargain. We may be sure that Blobb did not approve of these visits, and he not unfrequently took advantage of night to get five miles to windward of the squadron. " They're as hinnocent as lambs," he said to the crew of the Snigsbys, " as hinnocent as a Paskill lamb." Whatever that phrase might mean, he acted a parental part towards them, with a gigantic compassion ; pointed out the various parts of the coast as they came in sight of the Morea ; and showed Alfred how the never-to-be-forgot ten Lord Blory was wont to wear his fez. Of course Alfred had now begun a beard and moustache, and assumed a kind of oriental appearance, generally. He also cherished a secret intention of going, in his fez, to the Cyder Cellars, when he returned to London. That would rather astonish Blow, he thought, and little Buck, the raffish actor, and all the odd hangers on of Yauxhall, the theatres, the casinos, the betting-rooms, &c. " Rather 1" he thought. It was just the kind of reflection to be full of as you saw the col umns of Sunium, with the sunlight clinging to them at noon, like a parasite ! The squadron passing JEgina with its veil of blue haze (you will find some ruins there, and partridges) arrived off the Piraeus. The Intolerable and Struldbrug anchored in the Bay of Salamis, dropping their best bowers among the bones of .the followers of Xerxes ; the Yerdant and Lotos entered the Piraus, and so did the Paragon, dodging neatly in between the two little lamp-posts in the mouth of it, with a slanting wind. The captain of the Intolerable went on shore to consult the authorities of the Embassy, and returned to his ship with a serious expression on his face, and an in creased air of self-importance. He was observed to nod his FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 365 head gravely to the commander, who nodded his to the lieu, tenant of the watch by and by, in his turn. Toadyley who had a talent for getting hold of news like the scent of a truffledog, though he occasionally got hold of a toadstool instead of the luxurious fungus came down to the gun-room with the mysterious self-importance of old at third hand. There now began a discourse about " British inter ests," and danger to Otho's crown. " It's all part of a general movement of the European democracy, sir," Toadyley said. " It will leave us no insti tutions, by and by 1" On this, Herbert Flower remarked very gravely, that " nothing could be more annoying to a member of the aris tocracy " with a subdued grin as he coupled the last words with a glance at Toadyley. For Toadyley's reverence for aristocracy was undoubtedly the result of a pure and disin terested (and snobbish) attachment. Happy aristocracy, which, however blind it may be, always has a cur to lead it ; to carry the basket, eat the fragments, and put up with the kicks I Toadyley saw Mr. Flower's intention, but said nothing. He found that the best plan of revenging himself on his enemies, was to jog the memory of the commander about their faults and misdoings. Some days passed ; it was very fine weather, and there was nothing particular to do. Mr. Slides, the gunnery lieu tenant, peering from the poop, became gradually aware that there was a fine clear range for firing down the bay. Mr^ Slides was an officer from the " Excellent," a capital cannon shot, and a gre"at authority on shells. He was said to have once gone on board a hulk while the " Excellent " was firing shells at her, to watch the effect on the spot. Stories were told of his seeing tenpenny nails spin like tops on that oc casion stories which were only believed by a faction, which 366 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, thought Mr. Slides " cracked." He hovered between two strange reputations accordingly " Such is the fortune of the brave ! Mr. Slides stood on the poop, gazing on the bay and occasionally glancing up at the rock called "Xerxes' Seat," and wondering what " elevation" would fling up a shot on it. Presently -he went to the commander. I have hitherto disguised that officer under a ; let me withdraw the veil. His name was Bilboes. Mr. Slides observed that there was now an excellent opportunity of having a little shell practice. Bilboes screwed up his mouth. He was one of the old shool ; knew very little of the science of gun nery, and was rather afraid of shells. Mr. Slides urged him. He wanted to make some experiments was not quite sure of the length of his fuzes. Now they could- fire alternately at two points and have somebody near them with a watch, to mark the moment of falling and bursting. " But bless me, Mr. Slides!" said the commander, " what's somebody to do when the shells fall near him ?" " Get behind a rock to be sure 1" said Slides with a superb air. " Get behind a rock !" he cried out, " unless he wants his 'ed knocked off." " One of the midshipmen," suggested little Bloaker the marine officer, with a quiet smile. Toadyley, who had been within hearing all this time, wriggled up to the commander. "I beg pardon sir," he said to him, "Mr. ah! Mr. Flower, sir, has not been doing much lately !" Artful Toady- ley. " By Jove ! no ; call Mr. Flower," said old Bilboes, briskly. " Yes we ought to find out the shells all about the shells you're right, Slides." Bilboes was wonderfully interested in the matter suddenly. FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACIIT/NG. 367 Mr. Herbert Flower came running up, bolting the last fragment of a lump of plum cake. " Want me, sir ?" There was a sort of grin in the circle round Bilboes. There was a particular little imbecile grin about Bloaker ; poor little Bloaker, who was what Thackeray calls " a feeble wag," and was called " wicked/ 7 by one or two old women. The commander told Mr. Flower what he wanted him for. The Phenomenon nodded, and held his tongue. " Go and get ready, then," concluded Bilboes. " I've no preparations to make, thank you sir,"" said Flowers, quietly. " The estate's entailed sir." " What what do you mean ?" said old Bilboes. " No need of a will, sir ; goes to the Flowers of Herb- ham after our line. Branched off in Anne's time." " Call away the cutter, sir," said Bilboes, " and look sharp about it." Mr. Flower bounded off for the purpose, and the com mander ejaculated, " Well, I'm d d." Meanwhile, Mr. Slides had gone down below to get one of *the main-deck guns ready for firing. The gunner had had the keys of the. magazine given him, and presently be gan marching with a dignified pace up the hatchway, carry ing a shell. It is quite a picture to see a gunner carrying a shell the reverence and affection with which he regards the deadly object are most interesting to observe. A young woman carrying her baby ; a fast man bearing a pot of porter, are not more genially interested in their respect ive charges. A beautiful attachment and surely a disin terested one ; since occasionally now-a-days, the shell ex plodes "unexpectedly," (as the subsequent dispatch pathe tically remarks,) and clears the neighborhood in a summary manner. "Cutter's manned, sir," Mr. Flower said to the com marider. 368 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, "Very well ; now pull, sir, and land at that point to the right. We are going to fire alternately at that point, and yon other one to the left." Flower was a picture of respectful attention. "When we hoist the red flag, we are going to fire at you I mean at the point on the right," he said, correcting himself, quickly. " Same thing, sir," struck in the Phenomenon. " Silence, and receive your orders, Mr. Flower. When we hoist the yellow flag, we fire at the point on the left. You attend with your watch, and time the sounds of the falling and the bursting." Mr. Ftower ran down the side. "Shove off," he cried. The oars flashed, the wake shivered, and away went Mr. Flower on his scientific mission. He occupied himself in looking at his watch, and ascertaining that it went properly, and the boat slashed along through the water leaving the old Intolerable towering out of the sea in the distance. " We had better warn that boat, sir," said the coxswain, suddenly. Flower looked up. " What's the matter ?" he asked. They saw one of the common Greek boats, with a dirty sail, creeping along some way from them. A fez just gleamed over the quarter, and a light curl of blue smoke hovered over it. " Starboard, and near her," said Herbert. " Boat ahoy, there 1" The fez started. " Hillo, 'ErbertH" " What Snigsby !" Mr. Alfred Snigsby jumped up. " this is jolly Flow er, by Jove. I was just going for a little cruise beautiful day !" He stretched his long figure with a most joyful air " I'll join you are you going to land ?" " You may if you like," said Herbert. " Follow us." The boats moved away Alfred's following the cutter, FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 369 and they soon reached the "point to the right," of which Bilboes had spoken. It was a fine, long, rocky strip of land, with shingle on both sides down to the sea. " Now, shove off, coxswain," said Flower. " Take the shore boat with you^-out of the range." Alfred and Herbert Flower were left alone on the point. Alfred began to peer about with a curious look. If you ever saw a long bird of the stork genus, observing external nature in the strange way they do, you have seen something ^that resembles the tone of Alfred's walk. Of course, his little box of " magic lights" came out in an instant, and he offered Herbert a cigar. " You fellows have an easy life of it," said Alfred, " upon my word." Herbert was fiddling with his watch, and observing the rocks about them. "Here you are you come ashore you " So he was going on, when sud denly But we must glance at the main-deck of the Intolerable for an instant. Slides was hovering round the gun, and peering through the port with a telescope. "Hang the fellow ! tell the people to hoist the red flag on deck, Jones. Elevate ! well ! oh dear. What's that long col ored thing moving ? Is't alive ?" "Take a cigar, Herbert," said Alfred. "I'll just run and pick one of those leaves." Alfred galloped off. Her bert's eye was on the Intolerable^ mast-head. " Snigsby, Snigsby," he roared out, " come back for God's sake." " D n it, it's running I" said Slides. "Is the flag broke on deck ?" "Yes, sir," was the answer. "Mr. Flower must see the flag" and jerk went Mr. Slides' wrist ; he could be tantalized no longer. A flash of fire, and a white cloud, and a rolling thunder burst from the Intolerable, and then a long thin hiss fol lowed through the air. Down went Flower, like a pointer, 16* 370 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, instanter, with a wild glance at Snigsby. Snigsby at that moment was a picture. He stood for one instant like what the vulgar call " a stuck pig" legs frozen mouth agape. And then he dropped backwards I regret to say in among some furze and stones. The long hiss passed over their heads ; there was a tremendous splash in the sea some hundred yards ahead of the point a white cascade sprung up from it for an instant, and all was still. " Alfred ahoy l n cried Flower. " Yery pleasant duty, eh ?" * % " Murder, by Jove," said Snigsby, who was quite pale. "There's some brandy in the boat, old fellow. Let's call it." " Gad, I don't know whether the boat ought to cross the range now. Come here by me." Herbert was dotting down the minutes and seconds on a card with a pencil. Always cool the youth was ; indeed he had had a good schooling in the " Cowslip," on the Coast, the commander of which was an officer who occasionally threatened to run his brig alongside a foreign line-of-battle ship, if anything on the part of the line-of-battle ship had offended him. This he called "bringing people to their senses," while other authorities considered it a taking leave of his own ! "You are a cool card, Flower," said Snigsby, looking with admiration at Herbert's pencil and notes. Herbert shrugged his shoulders. " Oh, I'm paid for it ; what do I get my 30 a year for ?" "Ah but hang it, you know," said Alfred, whom the shell had made wonderfully earnest all of a sudden, "it's honorable, old feller ; courage is a fine thing, and it's a great profession to rise in." " Oh, courage is just a habit like smoking. The pro fession's a bore. It's all humbug," said the Phenomenon ; " everything's humbug." FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 371 Up went the yellow flag. " Keep your eye on that point, Alfred," said Flower dropping adroitly down again while Alfred tumbled right over him, and sprawled all abroad in his anxiety to imitate the movement. "All right, man," Herbert said, half laughing. " It won't be so near us this time I" He laughed, but he did not sneer at young Snigsby's " funk." He thought no worse of him for it ; would have thought no better of him for the opposite ; he neither loved, reverenced, feared, or hated, or despised hardly at all. Nil admirari was the basis of his nature. Nil admirari is really the motto of hundreds of our youth. Nil admirari will have to be examined very closely by-and- by. Nil admirari will have to be put down by-and-by. Again, the fire gleamed in the heart of the white smoke, and the air hissed like a living thing. They saw a black speck in the air for a second then the " point on the left" glittered with momentary fire, and a whirlwind of stones and dust flew up. One or two more shells were fired without any noticeable results. At last one of them began to hiss, prematurely as one feels inclined to do at a Bricklesian drama while it was lying apparently harmless on the sill of the port. Everybody started. It was instantly kicked off into the sea where, luckily, it did not explode, but sunk peacefully into extinction. Slides, of course, was quite ready to "ac count for" the accident. "Something" was wrong with the " eap," and there was " something" odd about the fuze. He would undertake to show, he said, that it could not hap pen to another ; but the captain would have no more shell- firing that day. The "boat's return" was hoisted to Mr. Flower's great delight. Alfred remarked that he was begin ning to take an interest in the practice, but, upon the whole, he was not sorry I believe to find that it was over. Long aftejwards, the memory, of his first sight of a shell adhered 372 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, to him, and many a time he narrated the circumstance to a select circle, beginning " Flower, of the Intolerable, and I," &c., and his excellent mother never flagged in her shud dering sympathy nay, not even at the twentieth repetition. Alfred now came on board the Intolerable with Flower. The commander received Flower with a little more courtesy than usual, when he read his notes. Of course, Herbert seized the occasion to ask leave to go on shore. " Shore, shore/' said old Bilboes, " you youngsters think of nothing but the shore. No sooner is the anchor in the ground, than you want to be off." Flower said nothing. He knew his man. Old B. had a notion that his forte, was sarcasm so, if you rather seemed to wince, the harmless old gentleman thought you were hurt by his harmless old jocosity, and ultimately relented from his harmless old sternness. " Ah,, you want to see the ruins of ancient art," said Bil boes, feeling that his irony hit Flower very hard ; " well, you may go." Flower went off very quickly, indeed, we may be sure. The Apparently good-natured mood of old Bilboes induced another young gentleman to try his hand likewise, but the fatal inquiry, " whether his log was written up ?" put a stop per as he afterwards expressed it on his expedition. That unhappy log ! How that log has tormented us naval men I How often have we had occasion to join with HO RACE in imprecations on Te triste LIGNUM te caducum In domini caput immerentu ! FTTN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING 373 CHAPTER VI. THE modern inhabitants of Athens perched as they are beside the ruins irresistibly suggest to one a camp of gyp sies among the remains at Stonehenge. The contrast is just about as great, and the relation of modern to ancient there quite as respectable ; or, if you prefer a commercial illustra tion, I would compare the town to an insolvent establish ment, into which Europe has put King Otho as a kind of " man in possession." There is a sort of tawdry, semi-Turk ish, semi-French seediness about those narrow streets, which inspires one with profound melancholy and disgust. There is a muddy palm-tree growing at the entrance of the main street in a consumptive manner a false life, like the life round about ; and there stand for ever and ever, brown and ghostly, the temples of the old time, beside which this said life, with its noise, falsity, and pettiness, goes bustling on : a kind of wake that life seems round the noble death there a wretched wake over a dead queen. They were stirring times at Athens in 184-. But, first of all, let us see our firiends, the Snigsbys, safely deposited at the Hotel $ Orient. The Paragon, as I have said, an chored in the Pira3us, where there is quite a gay little white town. Two Russian brigs, with gilt stars on their gun- tompions that foreign dandyism ' were in the harbor. They exercised their guns constantly, the crew hallooing when they loaded, as they drove the rammers in ; they always loosed sails, and then furled them just as the Lotos did so ; and used to beat the Lotos too, which was their ambition. Mr. Blobb and a party from the yacht here employed themselves in landing Mr. Snigsby's luggage. Mr. Snigsby was surprised to see a regular cab-stand, and a fellow in a 374 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, red cap and white petticoats, with a sash round him, coma trotting up with a hackney coach, directly he landed. Blobb settled with him to go to Athens, for so many drachmas. " Athens sir, yes sir," fancy that ! and off the coach rolled, along over a good highway road flat, marshy plains stretching away on each side pale, thin woods of light-green trees springing from them barren Hymettus on one side distant Pentelicus, looking misty. " The cabman" stopped presently, and Mr. Snigsby half expected, as he put his head out of the window, to find himself blockaded by a row of omnibuses ahead. They had reached the " half-way house" a bright, gaudy little cafe on the borders of the wood, by the road-side. " The Socrates' Arms, I suppose !" said Alfred, who was in high spirits, making a joke in the style of Brickies. Mrs. Snigsby laughed, but her husband looked grave. " The name of Socrates is too sacred for these jests," said Mr. Snigsby, pompously. " Oh," said Alfred, sulkily, " there's a great deal of cant talked about these old fellows !" " Possibly, sir," said his father with sternness, " but the cant -of the Cyder Cellars is worse !" Mr. Snigsby was in a rhadamanthine mood, as was proved by this speech. Whenever that sarcasm about the C. ,C. (as Alfred would have said) came out, Mr. S. was indubi tably sulky. " Humph," growled his heir, but I am afraid the old gentleman had the best of it I Meanwhile the driver was getting himself refreshed, and taking some red wine among the babbling, gaudy, thin-waisted groups who basked in the sun, on the benches outside, kicking out their red- buskined legs, twisting their moustachios, -and gabbling three at a time. Crack went the whip, and on the coach moved. At last, the road turned and they approached the town ; the Temple of Theseus lying just on the rfght. They FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 375 rattled up the street (for Athens can only be said to have one street) and went straight to the hotel. They were to begin "sight-seeing" (a sadly vulgar word that is) next day. The Snigsbys always " did " the curiosities of a place on system, and regulated their sublime interest in antiquity by the almanac. As these poor sketches of mine are not wholly buffooneries, but claim some slight " purpose," I think I ought to subjoin a " Memorandum" of Mr. Snigs- by's, prepared that evening. It may, who knows, serve as a hint to some future traveller of lofty aims. It will, at all events, illustrate the character of various ditto dittoes. MEMORANDUM. " th instant. Breakfast. Inquire price of tent. See ACROPOLIS, old columns, ruins Greek worship, graceful Tem ple of Winds. Dinner at 6. Write Hugg and Bloaker. " th instant. Early breakfast (qy. why salt so dear at Athens ?) See ruins, temple Jupiter Olympius. Emperor Hadrian, arch of. Not to forget Umbrella, heat so great. Polytheism, reflections on. Dinner at 6J. " th instant* Breakfast. Honey at ditto, from Hy- mettus. (Odd story about Plato and bees in cradle ; fabu lous.) See Pnyx. Prison of Socrates. Tomb of ditto ! Great man ; opposed popular superstitions. Resemblance of to passers.of Reform Bill. P.M. Ride out in carriage. Letters. " th infant. Old stream of Ilyssus. Groves of Acad. Home early to see tailor. Evening roam about St. Paul's Hill : " unknown God." Home to tea. " th instant. Off to Phalarum Bay. Any snipes in marsh ? P.M. Wander among ruins ; reflections on. DINNER AT EMBASSY. LETTERS." The last sentence Mr. Snigsby has put in capital?, foi reasons which he does not explain. .^ 376 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, The Snigsbys clearly made the most of their time, if the above document is to be relied upon. And, indeed, they seem to have enjoyed themselves. The autograph-book of the hotel still retains their names and their testimony to that effect, along with all the miscellaneous names and tes timonies of that volume ; in which you read, how Jones liked Attica, and Brown liked the hotel, and the execrable joke made by Higgs on the words " fare and fowl," to which is subjoined with due signatures the announcement that " three English gentlemen voted the writer of, the above, an ass." The English leave the oddest possible relics of them selves, in these parts of the world. The French leave their cookery and their prints ; the Venetians have left architec ture ; our travellers leave their autographs and petty jokes. Well, every one to his taste, as the proverb says I Alfred favored the very tomb of Socrates with his autograph, and other names had been before him. " Antiquities" being pretty Well exhausted, what attrac tion had the capital to offer ? There was a court ; to be sure, it was a little one ; with a little standing army, and little ceremonies and snug little despotic ways of its own scarcely rivalling a European one in anything but its debt which, was highly respectable in amount. There was a large flat white palace, which I defy any one to look at without wishing to stick bills on it. The whole affair was worthy of the city which once boasted the Tub of Diogenes. But see the fate of empires ! Just as the city has become most ridiculous, it has got no wits I This last was the remark at all events of a young English gentleman at the talk d'hote one day. There was usually a rather pleasant party there a quiet old Bussian patrician who interested himself in what everybody said and was very agreeable a Greek gentleman who had been at college at Moscow a travelling architect, and so on. Mr. Snigsby, FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 377 to do him justice, was fond of conversation. On this occa sion he pricked up his ears. " Have you been long in Athens, sir ?" he said to the speaker, a perfectly self-possessed youth, who had every ap pearance of being a thorough-paced traveller. " Came from Trieste yesterday. I should have been here before, but I was detained at Malta on my way from Al giers." " Indeed 1" said Mr. Snigsby. The company generally glanced at the speaker, who was just pouring some wine into his soup, with some curiosity. " And how, sir," said Mr. Snigsby, " does the French settlement there succeed ?" " They're getting on very well. Bugeaud is not looking so well as he used- to do. All these old fellows are drop ping off. I saw Metternich in May; his voice had got quite shaky." By this time the entire table began to confine its atten tion to the mysterious stranger. Mr. Snigsby felt the necessity of continuing the conversation. The youth was quite unconscious of anybody's attention apparently. " Then, you seem to like Athens, as you " Mr. Snigsby said. " I like it ? I hate the little hole I It's all very well when you come here as a boy you know, but it's keeping me away from an old chum that I was to meet at Odessa, and go home with." " Hem," said Mr. Snigsby, looking perplexed and scarcely knowing what to ask next. "And shall we have the plea sure of your company long ?" " I hope not. It all depends on what turn affairs take. They say Katwinkski is to be recalled. I don't feel sure about it myself. Besides, who knows, I may have to take a passage to Trieste with King Otho 1" 378 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, At this moment, Mr. Herbert Flower came in bearing a carpet bag, which (between ourselves) contained his plain clothes. Room at the table was instantly made for that youth. No sooner did his eye light on the mysterious one than he nodded and said, " Why, hillo, Saunders, I have not seen you since you were at Lisbon." Friendly recogni tion, and "wining" instantly followed. Mr. Saunders talked away more briskly than ever, told innumerable anec dotes, all about public men of one class or another, many of them bitter sarcasms of public men against each other. The impression left by the whole was, that European poli tics were just a large selfish game played by men more or less clever and unscrupulous, and none of whom excited any particular reverence in Mr. Saunders. After dinner he took a cigar out of his case, and announced that he was going for " a stroll." "Who is that?" inquired the Snigsbys, eagerly, after he kad left the room. Flower laughed. "That's our own correspondent," he said, and named the journal. " Dear me," said Mr. Snigsby, reverently. " A most in telligent young man he seems." " Oh yes ; smart fellow enough." "I wonder," said Mr. Snigsby, musingly, " what can be the matter here. Something, sir, you may depend I" he added solemnly. " I wonder if the government are in a crisis. Pray, my lord," here he turned to the Russian no bleman who was always so polite, " do you know anything of the state of politics here ?" The Russian made a bland and negative inclination. Russians don't talk politics in coffee-rooms, Mr. Snigsby ! And indeed one reason that the English are such bad social conversors is, that continual political talk spoils them, If they were more literary they would be more elegant. FUN, FPIGATES, AND YACHTING. 379 Just then a waiter summoned Alfred, who disappeared. Mrs. Snigsby had gone up stairs to their rooms ; Mr. Snigsby remained, musing over his claret. I rather fancy he was meditating some "speculation/' and I know that he often thought that this mere travelling without making money was very absurd. He turned to Herbert Flower, who, in political matters, was but a sorry resource. "What think you, Flower ?" Herbert shrugged the little shoulders. " I'm never in terested in politics, my dear sir. Politics, I take to be the art of sending gentlemen into parliament, or promoting them in the army and navy. My father does our share of political business, for the present." Mr. Snigsby smiled. "But have not you heard how things are going on here, for example 1" " Well, I understand the king's dunned," said Herbert, laughing, " but, by gad, I'm dunned only I'm not a king." "Dunned, sir, indeed?" said Mr. Snigsby, seriously. " Yes, I made rather a good joke about it t'other day. I said his Court was an Insolvent Court." Mr. Snigsby grinned. How beautiful was this romance of monarchy how fine a thing to be a king under Otho's circumstances ! But if, for him, we have no particular sympathy, let our chivalry give a sigh to the lady of the house of Oldenburg with the head too fair for such a crown sweet fiower of beauty among the ruins of the beauty of old, whose presence might compensate an Athenian for ti^e loss of the marbles that charmed Pericles. Just as they were sitting silent, in rushed the waiter, flourishing a napkin. " Come out and look, sir. Come out, sir 1" And a distant sound of voices, and the hurrying hoofs of horses, were heard through the open doors of the hotel. Mr. Snigsby, with true political curiosity, bounded to his 380 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, feet and rushed out accordingly. The hotel was in an up roar. The residents were running down stairs ; everybody asking his neighbor what was the matter. Nobody could answer with certainty. Only it was quite clear in the fresh and moonlight evening, that the people of the town were all swarming in crowds that the picturesque groups were marching along towards the palace that lights were gleam ing now and then through its lofty windows. . Mr. Snigsby came running into the coffee-room again, quite excited. " It's a REVOLUTION", Mr. Mower." " Is it ?" said Flower. " Then, waiter, bring another pint of claret and a cigar." " Won't you come and look at it 1" said Mr. Snigsby in surprise. " I ? bless you ; no. Mind, waiter, the Lafitte." While the waiter was attending to the order of Mr. Flower, our friend Snigsby ran out again. The Hotel d? Orient is situated near the palace, and the residents had a capital view of the proceedings that night. The crowds continued gathering, and now they gradually swelled into a mass round the palace. And now began shouts discord ant, tempestuous hubbub round these white marble walls. Presently, a horseman leaves the palace portico at a gallop gallops down to the Artillery Barracks. Brief reply is given to the message ; " Artillery decline to act !" In creased hubbub follows, as the news is diffused through the , mob. And now begins a general yelling indicative, as is explained to Mr. Snigsby, (who is watching the proceedings with high constitutional emotions from a balcony, ) that the people of* Athens would like to see his Majesty at his bal cony I You have heard the call for " author," raised by a literary gentleman's acquaintances at the close of a new play ! Such was the yelling for his Majesty on the present FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 381 occasion ; they always call on kings, however, to have their performances condemned. And now the lights moved even more restlessly at the windows of those wide white walls. Figures appear and vanish there occasionally. Mr. Snigsby's emotions became immense. He half knocked down a waiter, whom he met carrying a lantern as he rushed to summon Flower again. "Come, Mr. Flower come ! Listen to the roaring there !" " Capital Lafitte, my dear sir," said Herbert, never mov ing an inch. " Come out and see it, man," said old Snigsby. "Bah, my dear sir leave my wine?" Snigsby hurried off again, and resumed his observation. " Mr. Snigsby, sir," cried the waiter. The old boy ran down once more. There was some hub bub going on at the door of the hotel. A lanky Albanian so he seemed was hustled rudely in by an armed mob. His cap fell off, and Mr. Snigsby recognised Alfred. " Why what the devil's up now?" he roared out to that youth. " I just went out," stammered Alfred, who was deadly pale. "In that dress, sir?" shouted his father. " Go to bed, sir. Waiter, show him to bed !" Once more, Mr. Snigsby gained his point of observation. The tumult was decidedly increasing nay, arms of various kinds glittered more prominently in the moonlight. The opening on the royal balcony began to move. Who shall describe all the anxiety and terror going on within these walls then ? Honor to the queenly heart, warm with the blood of Gustavus which is true to one at this hour true at once to the honor of its noble Northern birth, and the Greek site of its Southern palace ! 382 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, A figure appears on the balcony, and there is a dead husn for a moment and a low murmur. The king ? No 1 A burst of yelling follows. This is a grim Bavarian most unpopular man in Greece ! The muskets gleamed still more prominently. Dense roaring ensues. " I wonder, sir, you dare show yourself !" roars stern old , who heads the multitude. The grim figure retires in again cursing rather deeply, we may imagine. At last, the king appears. There is a shouting, and a cry about "constitution," and the negotiation, and three times three. And the mob slowly disperses and settles down in its own dwellings. " Well," said Mr. Snigsby, returning to the coffee-room, " I call that a great spectacle ! Vox populi, sir !" " Now then ; sup," said Flower, finishing his second cigar. " The Revolution has not spoiled my Lafitte." " Here's the people !" said old Snigsby, joyously. " Vivat Regina /" said Flower, with gallantry. Alfred was already in bed. His first " lark" had terminated very sadly in the classical city. A few days afterwards, the Paragon slowly dropped out of the harbor, bearing the Snigsbys for a slight cruise among the islands. CHAPTER VII. DIPLOMACY is like a funeral. It invests everybody en gaged in it with an air of sacred importance for the time. Reflect on this, reader, and you will see that it is unusually true for an epigram. Doth not poor Hobbins, slowly marching with his black wand, look a loftier creature than his brother plebeian? Even so our friends at embassies seem great men from their occupation ; and naval captains FUN, FRIGATES, AXD YACHTING. 383 become so, of course, when diplomatic duties devolve on them. The captain of the " Intolerable/ 7 for example, was twice the man, at least, when visiting a consul in the Archi pelago on political business. The captain of the " Yerdant" landed an armed party to call the Pasha of Snobkali to ac count for an insult to the British flag, and made the Pasha apologize. Yet the captain of the " Yerdant" was not per sonally an important man ! Intrinsically, indeed, he was Adam Jones, R. N"., with scarcely talent enough to manage a country post-office. Beautiful system, which " ennobles whatever it touches I" Were "British interests" injured by the revolution in my last chapter ? Not at all ; British in terests remained perfectly safe, and dined together as com fortably as ever the day after. Of course the captain of the "Intolerable" felt that he, as senior officer of the squadron, was the cause of this happy state of things, and Toadyley, the mate, explained the same in the' gun-room. Oddly enough, this disinterested admirer of his captain happened to do so in the hearing of the gun-room steward, who hap pened to tell it to the captain's steward, who happened to tell it to the captain. Toadyley was a man to "get on, sir," as old officers were wont to say. He rose by the pos session of certain qualities, which irreverent fellows like his messmates did not appreciate. Short-sighted observers ! What enableth the ape to maintain himself high up on trees ? His prehensile tail ! Nature is rich. These preliminary observations will give the reader to un derstand that the scene of our story is still classic. The " Paragon/? after cruising for a little while in the islands, returned to the Piraeus. Mr. Snigsby, whose interest as a politician in the revolution had been naturally very great, was glad to learn that the king had accepted a constitution. It was pleasant to him to see the regular old political busi ness going forward in the old way. The king not being fit 384 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR. for a king, why, of course, he must have one or two more imbecile people to help him, and so everything would come right. Frequently Mr. Snigsby broached the cheerful sub ject at the table d'hote, the Russian bowing silently in answer to his remarks as usual. The "own correspondent'' had gone to Odessa, and was charming the subscribers from that quarter. Little did these subscribers know that the active fellow was the same man who (aided by the Mediterranean papers) charmed them at the same time from Algiers and Beyrout ! Alfred had kept very quiet since his latest ad venture, the particulars of which were indeed sufficiently ludicrous. It seems that he had assumed the Albanian dress on the evening of the revolution, and gone forth on an Attic " lark." The partiality of the disciples of Brickies to fancy dresses is well known ; they are the male "Bloomers" of the age in their tastes ; and Alfred sallied forth on this occasion in no ordinary spirits. Being addressed in the Greek tongue in the Cafe de VEurope, he rejoiced in the opportunity of " chaffing" a nation in a language which, though known about the "coal-hole," and other similar neighborhoods, had not as yet (though I doubt not it will, the " fast" schoolmaster being abroad) become familiar to the inhabitants of the East. The result was a row, and that hustling of the youth into his hotel, previously de scribed. Perhaps the person who felt dullest about this time, of the party, was Mrs. Snigsby, who had no society. The English people abroad always assume brevet soda, rank, and cut their proper equals if they get a chance. So the Sempsters (Mrs. Sempster's father being a cadet of the Highlow family, as Sempster's family know well) the Sempsters, of their own Bustle Square, went to the Etran* gers when they heard the Snigsbys were at IS Orient picked out the same day to go to Eleusis, that the Snigbys chose for going to Marathon, and somehow were always, FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 585 during their walks, on the otter side of the Acropolis. One would have expected . the respective youths, Alfred and Highlow Sempster, to fraternize. But Highlow, though "fast," was that melancholy variety of the fast tribe a fast Prig. Does the reader know this order of young fellows solemn, conceited little sinners grave, pompous reprobates fellows, as Fontenoy once said to me in his sav age way, who " voluntarily associate with the devil, and yet seem to feel that they are patronizing him 1" Highlow was one of these, then, while Alfred was really a good fellow at bottom ; he loved to write to a prize-fighter, and seal with the Highlow shield, not knowing, as connoisseurs in heraldry do, that he had no right to use his mother's arms, his father not having any. Such was the youthful Sempster, who has since sat for a borough, and married into a government office under the auspices of old Biprigger, who gives young gentlemen situations, on condition of their taking one of his daughters into the bargain. A more determined aristocrat than Sempster does riot of course exist now ; for in our times Mammon is the most bigoted of all aristocrats. If you want to boast of your " blue blood," do it in the com pany of men of fortune, whose grandfathers were trades men. Mr. Snigsby had made up his mind to leave Athens, and his final preparations for sea were being made on board the yacht, under the auspices of Blobb, when our friend had an opportunity of seeing a political spectacle. It must have been gratifying to a constitutional heart. In a word, the king's friends were leaving for Trieste in a steamer, escorted to the very water's edge by cavalry, to save theta from " popular fury !" Popular fury, or the " rage of the rab ble" (so described by Brigg the attache himself, of course, being sprung from emperors) accompanied the fugitives to the harbor. Rarely has a more dignified spectacle been n 386 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, presented to observation. That a king should be obliged to send away his companions, and to have them cheerfully pelted with mud by his loyal subjects ! Why, one would rather act the king in a country barn ! Indeed, being a king of Otho's class is very like following the theatrical profession, and doing the royal parts. The poor monarch was criticised in the newspapers like any stroller, hissed by the public, and short of money into the bargain ! Mr. Snigsby pitied him heartily as the " Paragon" left the har bor in the Trieste steamer's wake, and he saw the sulky mustachioed gentlemen on the poop looking very fierce, yet not sorry to be out of harm's way. What became of these courtiers he never afterwards heard ; he supposed they went to some other court, and doubtless they are hanging about one to this hour, sneering at the " people" and living on them. The Squadron were still in the bay of Salainis. Mr. Snigsby's party went on board the "Intolerable" to bid them good bye there. We must fancy an affectionate part ing between the colmnander and Mr. Snigsby, accompanied by a request from old Bilboes that he would take down a huge chest of drawers to Malta for him, and accompany Alfred, who is looking for Herbert Flower. "Mr. Flower, sir?" "On the poop," said the quarter master. Alfred ascended the ladder leading to that domain, and found Herbert pacing about there. There was an air of calm, yet satirical endurance about him. " Well, 'Erbert, we're going to Malta. Come down arid have a chat for a minute." " Hem !" said Herbert. "Why, what's the matter?" " I can't exactly leave the poop at this minuta (Stand between me and old Bilboes a moment there.) The fao> FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 381 is, I'm ordered to walk the poop by that old villain ; but there's a pocket-pistol in that fire-bucket." Alfred gave a demonstration of sympathy. " Pooh ! my dear fellow, the temporary triumph of the obscure ! no more ! A mere result of temporary suprem acy. A similar thing happened to Sir Ralph Flower in Charles's time, when the Roundheads were uppermost." Herbert looked magnificently calm " Really, I'm very sorry," said the affectionate Alfred. " Never mind. Everything in this world fluctuates. The world, sir, as old Mehemet ^li loves to remark, is a wheel. And our world here is a cart-wheel." They paced aft, and Herbert explained how this punish ment had befallen him. Rarely do we meet with a more monstrous case. Herbert's dog having fallen overboard, Herbert had let go the life-buoy ; and for this Bilboes had doomed him for a time to walk the poop 1 " So you are going to Malta ?" Here Herbert mused a minute, and then said, " Well, I h'eard you were likely to go ; so I have a letter for you to take, if you will." " Delighted," said Alfred. The quartermaster was privately dsipatched to the gun room, and presently returned with a note, very neat in ap pearance, sealed with the magic roses, and addressed to Miss Beddoes. Alfred looked so knowing when he saw the direction ! " Don't you remember the girl you danced with on board here?" " To be sure," Alfred said, digging him playfully in the ribs. " Well, didn't you think she was jolly good-looking ?" " I did, indeed," the youth replied, with the same know ing look. Herbert smiled in a queer, quiet way. "Just call when you arrive, and give her that then," he 388 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, Baid. Alfred placed it most sacredly in his pocket, and felt quite proud of the mission. It was drawing near the time of departure now. Alfred, with all his " fastness," never could get rid of that softness of temperament, which, he affected to attribute reproachfully to that hateful abstrac tion the "spoon." He grasped his friend's hand roman tically. " Good-bye, old feller 1 I'm obliged for all your kindness." " Stuff, my boy," said Flower ; " that's the sort of thing one says to one's schoolmaster at the end of a half. Fve not been kind to you. Pooh, pooh !" he continued, seeing that Alfred was about to protest, and putting his hand over his mouth. " Yacht's boat's manned, sir," cried & voice from the gangway. " Take care of yourself, and don't forget the letter." " Ah ! Flower," said Alfred, " you affect to hide those em" "'Bless us, Snigsby," said Herbert, "you should leave ' hinc ilia lachryma? to the Commons. You had better take some saltpetre to sea a capital thing to cool wine when you can't get ice I And, I say, tell Muir to send up George Sand's Consudo by the Brickbat, and make " " Walk the poop, sir !" was the stern and brief sentence from Bilboes, which cut short Herbert Flower's farewell. He turned away to pace backwards and forwards as preten tiously as did ever Sir Ralph Flower himself, and the Snigsbys got into their boat, the good lady of that name having given many thanks for his " kindness" to the cap tain of the " Intolerable," who had been kind enough to dine with them so often. Possibly we shall never be able to approximate to anything like a just admeasurement of obligations in this world. People's notions vary so ! There was Jack Pitt of the Lucifer. could mortal man have FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 389 been more cordially treated than Jack was, by the consul at Snobkali ? Yet the recollection of the dissolution of that friendship is fresh in my memory. Jack's words yet occa sionally haunt my ears : " He thinks/' said the worthy lieutenant, speaking of that consul's recent misconduct, and red in the face " he thinks, because I eat his dinners, and dine at his house, and ride his horses he thinks, sir, that he is to call me Jack !" The sails were loosed, the anchor up ; the Paragon dropped away to sea, glimmering like a star along the coast, getting a " clean bill of health" at Cerigo, and moving on towards Malta. The autumn was very fast departing by this time, and Mr. Snigsby longed to return to England. That that country was undoubtedly the best in the long run he frequently asseverated now ; and reminded his family that they had now seen a good deal of the world, and that, as to Alfred in particular, it was time for him to be " settling down" a favorite phrase of his. And certainly it is a happy phrase though, of course, the value of anything in the " settled-down" condition depends on the nature of the mixture. Gooseberry and champagne both effervesce, but the settling down leaves different results ; notwithstanding the general notion that the wildnesS of youth is pretty much the same thing in all youths. Alfred listened very reasonably to the parental admonitions by this time, occu< pying himself in the afternoon, as the yacht drifted along, in arranging his various purchases his sabres and daggers, and caps, and pipes, all which he destined to his future "chambers;" for a secret, dearly-cherished feeling lurked in Alfred's breast a determination to have " chambers" when he returned to England, and to keep himself clear from the parental control for the future. A hoary moralist delights and there is ground for the reflection to comment on the little sympathy tKat exists between fathers and sons 390 SWELL LIFE AT SEA ; OR, in the present age ; but if an old gentleman has no princi ples nor faith of his own, how can he expect his son to value anything about him but his money ? Show me a youth who don't value that, and I will admit that our youth are degenerate, as compared with their papas. In due time, Malta gleamed along the surface of the wa ter, white and low, like a dumpling in a pot. The Snigsbys thought they would sail briskly in, in the fine part of the day. But they did not know how it was though Blobb did that the yacht reached in at night. It was too late to go on shore then, and in the morning Mr. Blobb was ab sent. Snigsby remembered the mysterious sailing on the occasion of their leaving for the Archipelago, and felt a dim apprehension of some calamity ; but in the meantime they established themselves once more at the old rooms in Strada Reale. The island was dull at this time, and most of the squadron away those commanded by people of "interest'' dawdling about the Ionian islands the working and obscure ones, on the contrary, were at such places as Beyrout or Tunis ; while the admiral, in command of all, was snug in his house on shore, in a kind of seedy tranquillity,' if the phrase be intelligible. Sir Booby Booing was a good judge of value. He was lavish of his intellect in dispatches and orders but very sparing with his table-money ! He knew the worth of things " he did," as Lieutenant Hireling would say ; and he did not patronize society much, chiefly that of wandering people of rank, who make a convenience of the public authorities, getting passages in men-of-war from them, and patronizing their families, and cutting them after wards in England, in the regular hackneyed old way. Mr. Alfred Snigsby arrayed himself, the next morning after their arrival, in his most sumptuous style. He was going to call at the quiet respectable lodgings of Captain Beddoes, where dwelt the fair Lucy,%nd the captain's maiden FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 391 Bister, an old lady of reading and sewing propensities. The captain was away at the club ; and Alfred, who walked up stairs in some perturbation, found there Lucy by herself, looking fresh, white and trim as a camellia. The favorite ideal lady of a " Bricklesian" is a smart damsel, well ac quainted with light literature, something of a flirt in her manners, and tant soit $eu of a " snob " in her feelings. Lucy, however, was a quiet little girl, with just enough sen timent to sadden her, whose perception of fun was rather a matter of heart-sympathy than of acuteness, (and so more akin to genius,) and who, brought up always in the peculiar worldly atmosphere of garrison life, was worldly and ortho dox from timidity somewhat. A spoiled high character, to meet which (as you do constantly) has an effect like drop ping on a flower used as a marker in a heavy materialist volume ! How much depends on natural good feeling ! Hireling, above mentioned, (formerly of H. M. Brig SNOB,) Hire ling, I say, deputed, once, to report to his commander the news of the death of his nearest relative, did it thus : put ting his head inside the cabin door, " Come on board, sir," said he, " your father's dead." Alfred's obvious good feeling was in* his favor. Lucy was up, and said she was glad to see him. Alfred envied Her bert Flower. " Let me see," he began, after remarking that Malta was dull, " I've a note for you from Herbert Flower," and he produced it. " Oh," said Lucy, "I hope he's well. Does he keep on o ood terms with his commander, now ?" She played with the note, and glanced at the seal, as if laughing at Mr. Flower's profusion of armorial wax. Alfred thought he ought to say good morning. How anxious she must be to read it ! He rose up. 892 SWELL LIFE AT SEA;. OR, " Oh, don't hurry, Mr. Snigsby : I expect my father in every moment," said Lucy, putting down the. still unopened note ; and she began to talk about all the most lively sub jects of the day. At last, however, Alfred felt the cap tain still not having arrived that he really ought to go ; but he found he was wonderfully more at ease with the young lady than before. The chat was very lively, just as he was saying good morning. "So, Herbert still occasionally excites the captain's Wrath/ 7 Lucy said, laughing. " Oh, yes ; perhaps Commander Bilboes is jealous of him," said Alfred, gallantly. " Of his high-flown names of kinsmen, and his ancestral roses, as he calls them ?" Lucy laughed again, and looked at the seal. " Of the rose, perhaps," said Alfred, bowing, and inwardly wishing that he was dressed as Don Cassar de Bazan his favorite ideal. Lucy blushed and looked demure. " Oh, Herbert's heart, like his shield, holds a whole bouquet of them. You're mis taken about him. I think you have been deluded by your own chivalry there, Mr. Snigsby." Lucy giggled as she spoke, but her blush was earnest ; and she meant it to be so. " Well, I must bid you good morning. I shall hope to find the captain in, again." " He will be very glad to see you," said Lucy. " Good morning." "Good bye, Mr. Snigsby." The drawing-room door closed ; Alfred's foot resounded on the stair ; Lucy seized the letter, and listened : the street door resounded hollowly. The wax cracked in an instant, and she began to read. Will our story be declared improbable for communicating FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 393 the pnrport of Mr. Herbert Flower's note ? How Alfred's heart would have beat, if he had known that it was a kind of sentimental letter of credit for him, wherein Flower had favorably commended him to his young friend the Lucy with whom he had flirted from childhood as a very promis ing match. " You see, Lucy dear," said the youth's note, " sentiment reminds me, sometimes, though I don't deal much in meta phors, of perfumes. People don't use perfumes, unless they can afford cambric ; and sentiment is a superfluity compared with fortune. Really, this strikes me as pretty ! I com mend you to a brilliant establishment ; and we part, don't we, luckily, if we can be torn away without bleeding ? Se riously, your papa would be delighted with the match, and so would our family. You have too much sense to call me bad-hearted, for saying all this, I know. I shall keep half a lock of your hair, for old acquaintance sake." Lucy read this effusion with a shade more emotion than Herbert had written it with ; and laughed a good deal less than he had done : but neither of them suffered very deeply. When Captain Beddoes camejiome to a quiet family din- ner, Lucy informed him that the Snigsbys had returned, and one of them called with a note from Flower. " Hah, rich people, Rivers was saying," the captain said, carelessly ; " the old man was very civil to me at the Intoler- able's ball. We'll ask them here, if you like." " Just as you please, papa," said Lucy, simply. " Sure it wouldn't bore you ?" " Oh no ; they seem kind, well-meaning people." " Ah, we'll arrange about it." At the same time, Alfred was narrating his visit to his family, and failed not to remark that Lucy was "jolly good- looking." it* 894 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, CHAPTER VIII. THE ordinary notions of the requirements in an alliance might be summed up for general purposes as follows : Money and birth if possible but, at all events, money ! Here and there a stray fellow plumes himself upon his an cestors, and declines to mix the paternal stream with blood which, like the Sacramento, brings mud along with the gold. But even such a stray fellow is found frequently to reflect that, while he has barely money enough for one, he has " blood" enough for two. This philosophical reflection once admitted, the mind wonderfully opens to the more liberal notions on these points. A pecuniary prospect dawns clearer and clearer. Some young lady of means is forth coming, and the " prejudices of antiquity" glide gradually away. She has been born with a silver spoon in her mouth, and he puts his crest on it what can be more delightfully harmonious ? In this way all ranks of us are gradually mingling in England, and intolerance in classes is becoming daily more hateful and ridiculous Now and then, to be sure, somebody exclaims " Leave us still our old nobility ;" but, as a general rule, the length of a man's pedigree by no means atones for the length of his ears. These highly philosophical remarks have been suggested by the circumstances mentioned in the last chapter. Alfred Snigsbyleft the Strada decidedly impressed with Miss Bed- does' beauty. We have seen how susceptible he was on a former occasion, and now the favorite vision of "chambers" lost its attraction, and he began to form a new ideal that of his being the presiding spirit of a country house, and giving breakfasts on hunting mornings to the neighboring FUN, FEIGATES, AND YACHTING. 395 gentry. With regard to the consent of parents there was no difficulty to be apprehended. Her Alf s happiness was Mrs. Snigsby's only object ; and his father, who knew that he would have to make a settlement on him some time, had philosophy enough to reflect that it might as well happen now as at a future period. (And it required some philoso phy to know this, at least, if we may judge by the irrational prejudices of so many parents to whom instant disbursement is so ridiculously awful.) We must therefore consider Al fred in the capacity of suitor ; and sympathize with him in his suit. We can fancy how one call led to another, and the second to an excursion to Citta Vecchia ; and how their names were mentioned together in social gossip ; and how soon Miss Lucy contrived to inform him that never had she thought of Herbert Flower except with the ordinary affection of an old family friend. Alfred wrote to that youth to say how happy he was ; and received a most cor dial reply, with a postcript respecting something he had or dered from a well-known firm in Strada Pocco, which had not attended to him punctually as usual. The conduct of the worthy Captain Beddoes was a model of quiet tact. He first satisfied himself by corresponding with an old friend, a " man of the world," in London, who ascertained the Snigsba3an fortune with the accuracy of an accountant ; and then to use a classical metaphor of no ordinary beau- tyhe lay down at leisure, and listened to the murmur of the Pactolus which was to enrich his house. Never did anybody manage to escape being bored with the prelimina ries better than he ; and when an intimate or two, men of the world likewise, asked any questions about the matter, he shrugged his shoulders. " People of fortune, sir," was the phrase which, like the Allah akhbar of the Mussulman, expressed the essence of his reflections on the subject. An easy, experienced, loo-loving, sherry-consuming old gentle- '396 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, man, brought up in good old garrison traditions, he accepted the piece of luck, just as he would have done a fluke at bil liards without particular comment yet quietly making it up. He showed Alfred a good deal of dignified attention, and asked him to dinner at the mess, and when he had oc casion to scrawl a note to Mr. Snigsby, senior, he im pressed him considerably by the use of a ferocious-looking but harmless old " wyvern," which adorned his seal. In the meantime, the yacht was lying in the harbor, and Blobb was passing his mornings one may suppose as usual, at the " Shepherd and Shepherdess." Here he pursued the classic game of skittles among his peers occasionally giv ing snug little entertainments on board the "Paragon," when he entertained his guests with dry sarcastic observa tions on the Snigsbys, his employers. These, as we have before seen, he had long since discerned not to be "regular swells." Few things are more amusing and interesting than the aristocratic tendencies of men like Mr. Blobb. It is a real old piece of superstition that tendency which they have, to respect a genuine " swell." For they are not to be im posed upon by mere money. Lord Blory as his tradesmen knew was not rich. Nevertheless, Blobb respected him as an ancient Briton did a Druid and entertained a mystic awe for his ancestors. It is common to speak of the present as an " enlightened" age. But wherever there is stupidity there is " darkness." The fact is the present age belie vei? in ghosts to an extent which no previous age ever paraL leled i n the ghosts of institutions, my dear reader in the ghosts of all sorts of mediaeval figures, which have not the reality people pretend to see in them at all. "Ancestors" are very noble possessions to a man who is right worthy and able himself ; but to my mind, the more ancestors a blockhead has, of eminence, the worse it is for him. To such a man the ashes of the dead, had r e any feeling, would FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 397 be like coals of fire ! All this has only, however, an indi rect application to Mr. Blobb ; Mr. B.'s regard for Lord Blory's ancestors was interesting and illustrative ; it was something so darkly and mysteriously reverent ! I verily believe that some people fancy the "lower orders" never had any forefathers at all but sprang out of clay in some unexplained manner a few generations back. We must however return to Alfred, who now assumes an unusual importance, on account of the event which is sup. posed to be impending. It is amusing to see the tender the rather melancholy interest which invests a person in his situation. Though, to be sure, courtship, unless of the high-flying, passionate, and poetic character, (we could do a little in that way if we liked, reader ! ) is a very dull affair to describe. For after all there goes so much common-place to make it up. Like " swizzle, n as was remarked by a naval friend in a philosophic mood, it is two parts water ! It com prises so many ordinary every-day proceedings, such lunch ing, and dining, and walking when it will come on to rain, such fluctuation of moods, and ebbing and flowing of tides of fancy, that it is apt to be prosaic in detail. Then, as genius is more shoTvn in making details interesting than in anything else, it becomes a very hard thing to treat of in fiction. And one is driven to generalities, and to request the reader to fancy Mr. Alfred Snigsby paying his addresses to Miss Beddoes from day to day. Lucy, who with all her simplicity has a kind of tact of which she is half conscious which gives her insight into character, has several times arrived at tfee conclusion, and always deliberately shut her eyes when face to face with the same, that Mr. Alfred is a fool, shall I say ? Why, not exactly. No. She does not like to say that, and she strives to reconcile matters, by say- ' ing to herself, that she has no right to judge Larshly of any oody. And this pleasant sophistry, which, I apprehend 398 SWELL LIFE AT SEA ; OR, everybody carries on more or less, is very like a habit of taking laudanum, which grows upon one, and at last be comes, instead of a pleasant variety, a most miserable neces sity. It was all the more painful too, of course, for Lucy to observe that Alfred had no suspicion whatever of the same kind himself. The truth is, that the disciples of Brickies (and I am anxions to illustrate in this story the effect of the writings of that great man) mistake their su perficial contempt for all that is serious in life, for a sort of Talleyrandish superiority to it. They think, poor fellows, that when they have grinned at " earnestness," and sneered at anything professing a "purpose," they have risen into some lofty Machiavellian height from which they can look down. Hence though the high Bricklesian, perhaps, can manage to keep the sneering worldly height with some suc cess permanently, as a dog can stand on his hind legs after very much practice, the weaker Bricklesian becomes ten times more infatuated, when he gets what he calls " spoony," than anybody else. And so far was Alfred from knowing his weakness, that to adopt a saying of Fontenoy's one of those disgracefully acrid sayings which shock all right- minded people, " he carried his ears as if they were laurels." Encouraged by Lucy's encouragement, he began to blend with his " spooniness" a sort of semi-comic tone, and I dare say sometimes thought that the fact that he, the brilliant Alfred, should meditate matrimony, was a falling-off, and a joke. It was no joke to Lucy, however. One morning Mr. Alfred Snigsby might have been ob served seated at his desk in Strada Reale, witlfa very bril liant sheet of paper before him still untouched, though there were several blurred, blotted, and scribbled ones beside him. The fact is, he was about to make his formal propo sal ! And though he had been virtually " accepted " for some time, yet there is a point in every courtship, my good FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 399 reader, when sentimental generalities have to concentrate themselves and assume a practical form. The Practical (with a big P) vindicates its right always in due time. There never was a religion yet which did not require bricks and mortar to build with ; that touching sen timent, commercial confidence, will embody itself, every now and then, in an I O U. Courtship leads to settlements. So, Alfred had made up his mind to put the formal question to Miss Beddoes, and to pour out his expectations to her papa. He tried, poor fellow, while concocting the epistles, to persuade himself into a light, easy, comic view of the matter. But there was a fullness about the throat which did not exactly proceed from the effects of his Joinvilh, and a general sensation of his uneasiness, which belied his grin. At last he finished the notes, and sent them off. And then he emerged from the house into Strada Reale. I regret to say that he then went into "Joe Mieallefs," for he wanted some " soda and curacoa " to " set him up." " Morning, sar !" said Joe, in his affable way. Joe was presiding at his counter there, with the usual stump of a cigar in his mouth. There was also one naval youth there, (of course) young Ricketts, of the Polypus who had a nodding acquaintance with Alfred, and who nodded accord ingly, and said " Queer this morning out late. Supped at the Govern or's devilled kidneys mulled port." Which sentences, Ricketts of the Polypus jerked out in a fragmentary man ner, without adding a single phrase ; just as he had jerked them out to three different casual visitors of " Joe's" that morning. Alfred stayed dawdling about "Joe's" in a wretched fitate of uncertainty. First of all he kept looking at the clock, and wondering whether his note for Lucy had reached ; whether his note to her parent had reached ; 400 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, when the answer would come, &c. " Now," thought Mr Alfred, " she is just writing." In truth, Lucy was writing. And if the reader will per mit me, we will peep into the drawing-room of her dwelling, and see her. I have her image before me at this moment a slight delicate girl what Mr. Herbert Flower was wont to call to his intimate friends, a Poppet that is, with a certain innocent dollishness of prettiness, which to some people is peculiarly enchanting. There she sits radiant in a light morning dress ; the airy, beautiful coolness of which seems like a piece of English summer inside the Southern summer. Before her is a most brilliant ink-stand, and several sheets of creamy paper and she has broken at least three flowers to pieces in musing over the subject which occupies her attention. At last she begins, and she looks up to her aunt, who is sitting beside her. Miss Beddoes, that maiden lady, is a most excellent person, not given to developing herself in talk, but who turns out, if you get friendly with her, to be considerably " up " in controversial theology. " Well, aunt," Lucy said, " I suppose I must write ! I suppose I ought to ought to be very happy oughtn't I ?" " My dear, you ought to know best. I would not under take the responsibility of advising you on so serious a mat ter ! You are aware that in a worldly point of view (how beautifully do these periphrases, my dear reader, avoid the unpleasantness of using the word ' money !') in a worldly point of view the match is one which would be quite satis factory to your family. Perhaps, my dear, you would like to have me, in perfect confidence, consult Mr. Fatten ?" (Our readers have not, I hope, forgotten the Rev. Mr. Fatten, of St. Kilderkin. The Rev. Mr. F., who openly denounces the " confessional n of the rival establishment, is FUN, FRIGATES, AND YA GIFTING. 401 yet given to a little private confession and absolution among his flock in a quiet way.) " No, thank you, dear," said Lucy, a little drily. " You must then consult your own heart alone, my dar ling." Lucy made a dash at the note. " DEAR MR. SNIGSBY (It's certainly a strange name.)" " I dare say, as you are an heiress, he might be induced to take your name, my dear if that is a serious objection." "I have to thank you," resumed Lucy, " for the kind letter which you have sent me ; and I hope I am not insensible of the honor of the proposal which it conveys. I do not think you will find that I fail to appreciate the sentiments which have prompted it ; and I shall be happy to hear from my father, in such a spirit, as I expect him to treat the offer which you tell me you have made to him. " Yery sincerely, L. B." " There, aunt ! that's civil enough and common-place enough and un-romantic enough, I hope 1" And up started Lucy, in some agitation, and looked at herself in the glass, and bathed her forehead in eau de Co logne. " For goodness sake, be calm, my darling," said her aunt, folding up the note gently, but promptly. " You approve it, aunt ?" said Lucy, looking very much as if she were going to cry. " It is quite correctly worded, my dear, I think." In ten minutes more the note was sent off. So far so good. Meanwhile Alfred's note to Captain Beddoes reached that officer at Jhe club, and was handed to him just as he was playing billiards. He glanced at it it was his turn he made a very pretty winning hazard, and 402 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, then leaving himself very safe read it at his leisure. A youth who had been watching the game, strolled out, leav ing the Captain alone with his very old chum a certain old Colonel Bechamel with whom he was playing. " I suppose there's no harm in showing it to you," said he, pitching it across. " Hah I" said the Colonel resuming his cue, " that tall young fellow I know him. Plenty of money, I think you said. Well, I'm glad to hear it. To be sure, Lucy's a girl that ought to marry anybody she likes." " You're kind always ; you good old Bechamel. But you and I have lived long enough to know that money is after all the great thing in these times." " Yes," said Bechamel ; " you know what poor old Blory used to say ? ' They use us old families/ said he, ' as they do the ancient remains in Greece patch brick walls with us !' How like Blory that was !" " Clever man to be sure. He might have done anything he liked." "So I told him ; and he said he preferred doing every thing he liked. And he certainly did it 1" " We won't play any more, then." " No." The two old veterans left the club, and crossed the square. As they walked along, they chatted about the matter in hand, and parted with more warmth than usual, as men who care for each other do, when anything of consequence to either of them has been the subject of conversation. The captain moved on, musing on Mr. Alfred's letter on the advantage of having a rich son-in-law, and wondering whether it would not be a .good thing for the youth to go into a dragoon regiment for a year or two. That would polish him up, the captain very justly thought, reasoning (without the aid of Rochefoucault, who has made the obser FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 403 ration) that Pair bourgeois se perd quelquefois d Parmee. But by this time he was at home. There were two gentlemen there, making a call on the ladies ; but the captain caught his daughter's eye, and they exchanged glances. " Heard the news, Beddoes ?" said Captain Trivet. " News ?" (the captain smiled inwardly ;) "what news ?" " Oh ! the Alexandrian mail's come in a great battle in India." "Ah ! bless me!" " Of course, we've thrashed the fellows," said little Trivet, (who has not been in action, that I am aware of,) compla cently ; " but several of our fellows of high rank are killed. You remember Philabeg Herbert ?" " Major in the th ? I know." " Most gallant charge killed with a round shot." " Poor fellow 1" said the captain. "Then, that young midshipman in the Bustard comes in to the estates/?" " There's the odd part of it. Pve just heard in fact it's come out now that old Philabeg's killed that ahem ! You see, this young Herbert, or youth called Herbert, we'll say " Trivet grinned " can't succeed. The estates are most rigidly entailed on ah ! the real Herberts most awful thing for this poor boy in the Bustard to find out all about his his unfortunate position now !" The captain gave a low, strange whistle of an eccentric and prolonged description. . " And who succeeds, then ?" And here he rose and brought out the " Landed Gentry," which occasionally amused his long evenings, and turned to the " Herberts of Cockrow Tower." Of course, there was a "Kanulphus de Herbert;" and there was an "ancient rhyme" which tradition had "preserved," (which Tradition, oy the way, too often " preserves" mere offal, as the Adnii ralty contractors do, ) viz., this beautiful fragment 404 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, " When ye De Herbert doth ride, Woe doth ye churl betide." And there was a De Herbert who was a " favorite" of some king ; and there was a "from whom descended," (con cerning which favorite, little, sly line, reader, you and I have our suspicions, perhaps, often ;) and, finally, you came upon firm substantial pepigree about Charles's time. You then saw that is, our friend the captain did how few Herberts there had been every generation ; and that, finally, the late Major not having left legitimate issue, the estates would revert to the issue of his great-grandfather's daugh ter, Ada , married in It , to CHARLES HENRY FLOWER of FLORY. " By Jove !" said Captain Beddoes, rising solemnly, like a Presbyterian about to say grace'' by Jove ! the FLOW ERS get that splendid property !" " What, papa 1" said Lucy, flushing all red with surprise, " our friends ?" " To be sure ; won't young Herbert be delighted ? Now, Lucy, it will be a graceful thing, as we're old friends of the family, for you to write and tell Herbert the news. His ship's at Athens, and he will have it from you first of all." Lucy left the room ; and when she was snug in her own room, what with emotion and the excitement of the day, and looking at Herbert Flower's last letter to her, (which, in my private opinion, it was about time for her to have burned before this,) she cried bitterly. A water-lily in a shower of rain oh, reader ! did you ever see that ? How the river is quivering all round it, and the broad leaves pat ter and dip, and the whole white beauty of the flower is shivering and glancing in a fever of excitement ! Such-like was our friend* Lucy then. If you remark, it is only -at a certain period, perhaps even by accident, that one finds out that one has a real heart Circumstances, education, may FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 4.05 have made one feel worldly, and look worldly ; but sud denly, by what you may call a conversion, an impulse it may be a death, it may be a pretty face your whole emo tions are awakened, and you seem a new man or woman. For, under the thickest conventionalism, there lies plenty of emotion, just as under solid old London and its founda tion of chalk there is plenty of the purest of water. But Lucy had- to come down in due time, and the three Beddoeses dined together. And then there was a private interview between Lucy and her father ; and next morning Captain Beddoes dressed himself elaborately, and visited Mr. Alfred Snigsby, who, in spite of his " knowingness," in spite of his acquaintance with the writings of Brickies, who had sneered at matrimony, and other things holy, till Ms whole moral nature (like his nose) had a sneering turn up wards towards heaven ! in spite of all this, was, to speak his own beautiful language, in a " very great funk." Old Betfdoes, who was a gentleman, (not a manufactured gen tleman, made out of the raw material, but a born one,) con ducted the delicate matter with the greatest tact. Alfred was an accepted suitor. The reader is now requested to follow me to the " Intole rable." The Squadron is still in the Archipelago, putting the Eastern question to rights. The affair is conducting itself beautifully. Snogg at Lemnos has landed a party of armed men, and bullied a Pasha into " apologizing" for something a great triumph for Snogg, who inherits a turn for severe officiality from his grandfather the beadle. Snogg has made a long dispatch about this. Snogg has become more pompous than ever on account of this. Snogg now, more successfully than ever, helps to spoil that climate, and make miserable the brig " Lotos," for the two midshipmen he most hates MAXWELL ^DAIR, who is a scholar, and 406 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, pleasant CHARLES HILDERSTONE, who quarters the arms of the Plantagenets. Meanwhile, at Athens, the squadron are enjoying the hospitalities of the Minister, including Bul bous, who keeps the entire Greek ministry waiting dinner at the embassy half an hour, comes in red and reeking, when everybody is disgusted with waiting, and then (mark this as a trait in vulgar people generally) is sulky with the company all day, because he has annoyed them ! And so the affairs of the East arrange themselves, and Greece is put to rights in the orthodox mannei. It happened that the note of Lucy Beddoes found Mr. Herbert Flower, by an odd coincidence, where we left him, viz., walking the poop for punishment ! I don't say that he has been there during the whole interval, but he had cer tainly been sent there that morning, by the worthy Bilboes, for some offence against discipline. Fancy his delight when the news came. It turned his head. He gently walked below without consulting the authorities. " Steward," he roared, "half-a-dozen of champagne !" Astonishment seized the mess. " I thought you were on the poop, Mr. Flower/' said Toadyley. "Did you?" said Herbert, in reply. "We think many strange things. I once thought all officers were gentlemen, but I know better. The corkscrew I" Toadyley turned pale, and eyed a cane which stood in a corner of the gun-room. He was wondering whether it would be "safe" to 'nick" Mr. H. F. " Pop" went the first bottle. But here the right-minded reader's mind suggests a question to him was not this glee rather odd on Mr. Flower's part glee on the strength of the slaugther of an old gentleman who was his father's cousin ? My dear reader, when the late Lord K , my long FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 407 descended neighbor, who bore a title renowned in the his tory of our native land, received the unexpected news of his uncle's death, which placed him in the estate and title "What I" cried he, "is the old fellow dead, screwed down, and all safe ?" Let us proceed. Bottle after bottle went " pop" likewise ; and presently a loud cheer reached the ears of Commander Bilboes in the ward-r6om. Mr. Flower's friends were welcoming the news which he told them ; and, by this time Mr. Toadyley had conveyed the intelligence of Mr. Flower's desertion of his station to the commander's ear. The commander, in high indignation, sent for him ; and the youth, first looking round to see that there was no witness within hearing, stole up to the commander, and spoke thus (horresco referens /) "Come, sir, you are talking like a tyrant! You are a tyrant, with the heart of a flunkey, and the manners of a boor ! You delight to inflict petty annoyances on the gen tlemen whom accident has put under your power " " Sen-try ! Sentry !" roared old Bilboes, gasping for breath. " Come here, sentry !" a cry which brought the marine running to his side. Mr. Flower declined, however, to repeat his vigorous sentence ; but he was sent below "under arrest." "Under arrest" is a favorite mode of in spiring terror with some commanders, but is not always very successful. " D n him," said Gunne of the Orson, of one of his midshipmen whom he had. subjected to this restraint, and who took it philosophically, "he gets fat." Herbert Flower, like Gunne's victim, showed a tendency to take the matter easily. So they sent him on to Malta to be dealt with by Sir Booby Booing. Sir Booby loved punishing. He loved to bite, though he hadn't a tooth in his head. He was in his second childhood ; and, as in childhood, children smash toys, in second childhood admirals smash officers. 408 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, A youth who has health, pluck, and hope, and loves his intellectual independence, feels no particular awe of an imbecile old gent, in a seedy blue coat ; and Herbert Flower's interview with Sir B. B., to whom he was intro duced with awful ceremonies by flunkies and flag-lieutenants, left no permanent impression on his mind. (I have heard him regret that the admiral was not more particular in his toilette.) The upshot was, that Mr. Herbert Flower was discharged to the Kabob to await a passage to England, and went on shore when he pleased from that vessel. In deed, he may be said to have now become what naval men call a " T. G." a travelling gentleman. It was probably this feeling which induced him to wear plain clothes always when on shore. The affliction which he had suffered in the loss of Major Herbert, at the battle of Blarianshillah, (the major had been sent into a jungle with a company to attack 10,000 Bamshangs, heavily armed !) was proclaimed out wardly by the most elegant mourning the appearance of which of course naturally led to inquiries which inquiries led to the explanation of the luck which had befallen the house of Flower. The excessive buoyancy and audacity the news had produced in him was something wonderful ; he openly proclaimed, in Bicardo's, his intention of " standing for the county." He would then announce his contempt for Sir Gruffin Bibs, who at present enjoyed that honor- Sir Gruffin Bibs, the inventor of the Patent Potato-Crusher, who had purchased huge estates there. " Fact is," Herbert would say, "we were too poor to contest it, and the great magnate, the Duke of , wouldn't condescend to inter fere except, by-the-by, when that man, Creekles, tried it ; d !> it, that was going too far, as the duke observed !" All this, with the shrugging of the little shoulders, and the ineffable precocity of our friend the Phenomenon, gene rally, was extremely amusing to the philosophic observer. FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 409 In the meantime Captain Beddoes had heard of Flower's arrival in Malta, and one day at dinner Alfred being there he said, " Oh, Lucy, I wondej why Herbert Flower has not called ?" +. Lucy started slightly : people will start when particular names are abruptly mentioned. " I'm sure I can't guess." She seemed languid, and it had been a very oppressive summer that year. Alfred Snigsby felt a little pang of fear ; he liked Flower, but always stood in some little awe of him. " We ought to see him," said Captain Beddoes, innocently. " I suppose you are too much occupied to look him out, Mr. Snigsby, eh ?" "1 will go and see about him this evening," said Alfred ; and, in the interval between dessert and tea, he and the captain strolled out together. " I have forgotten my hand kerchief," said Alfred, abruptly, when they had got about a hundred yards from the door. He ran rather smartly back. The servant happened to be standing at the door, so he went in unannounced by a knock. Running up to the drawing-room, he passed in. Lucy was sitting near the window, in the twilight. Everybody has some little touch of poetic sentiment ; and the long Bricklesian paused to look at the girl, who did not hear him, and who was musing absently. Alfred entered softly and unperceived and, as he gained the table, he saw a letter on it. He drew his breath suddenly. He knew the hand. It was the writing of Herbert Flower. Alfred felt suddenly very much startled, and there was a sort of mistiness floating before his eyes. By a sudden im pulse, he seized the letter, and backed tranquilly out of the room with it, still unperceived. He gained the open air. The captain was waiting for him at the corner of the street. " Got it ?" he asked, carelessly. 410 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, " Eh ?" said Alfred. " Your handkerchief ?" Alfred had forgotten Ijjs handkerchief altogether ; ho stared a little, and then said, hurriedly, "Oh, yes/ 7 and was in a semi-somnambulist state ; and feeling an intolerable desire to be alone for a little, he informed the captain that he must go and call to see his mother. " All right," the captain said, quietly. Stupid Mr. Alfred Snigsby ! for the note which caused him such excitement was nothing but the same note which he himself had brought from Athens. "She needn't have kept it, though !" he thought, sulkily, after looking at it. "Perhaps she don't care for me, after all," he muttered. " Why the deuce was it on the table ?" )h, jealousy *thou who art called " green-eyed" thou art in thy element, with a green subject to deal with I But by this time Alfred was at the paternal room. He found them very much agitated and bothered. Some official, speaking execrable English, had been calling, and had asked Mrs. Snigsby many questions about Blobb: " Who was Blobb ? Where did they engage him ? What refer ences had they with him ?" What did this portend ? " I knew no good was in that abominable man," said Mrs. S. " I always feared him. Now, Alfred, you must ascer tain what all this is about." " Oh, by Jove, ma I can't undertake the bother !" " What, sir !" roared old Snigsby from the sofa, where he had been lying " what ! why, what the devil will you do what the devil have you ever done ? I have been working all my life [here poor Mrs. S. rose and a ran out of the room] working all my life, sir, like a horse ; and you a fellow six feet standing six feet in the boots which I pay for," continued Mr. S., aiming at point ; "you'll do nothing ! And you ain't ornamental either !" FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 411 Alfred rose up in a preternatural calm, and whistling loudly from the opera, Gustavus the Third, stalked majes tically out of the house. But there was one more interview to come off for this un happy fellow this evening. How was he to face the adora ble Lucy, having carried off the letter which indeed the poor girl had missed, and in extreme agitation had been wonder ing where it was. Off he must go to the house, and arrange that affair somehow. " I do like her ! She's a stunner/' he muttered to himself, " and hang it, the governor must do something handsome when I'm married. He wants to see me settled. He'll like to see me so respectably married. He's afraid of these respectable people. He'll come down handsome !" Once more he ascended the stairs, and there again was Lucy by herself. "Oh, Lucy dear," began Mr. Alfred, " I found a letter of yours." Lucy turned round quietly. " I did not lose a letter, Alfred," she said, with ever so little emphasis on the verb. " Oh, I found it," said Alfred, hurriedly. " It was on the table, I think," Lucy replied, with per fect simplicity. " A letter from a friend of my family, lying on the table. Did you take it away ?" she asked, looking inquiringly forth from her charming gray eye. " Yes, I did," said Alfred, getting a little sulky. (Have ^oru remarked how original vulgarity breaks out with most effect, then ?) " It's from *Erbert Flower." " Are you quite sure," said Lucy, who felt her cheeks growing hot and a little tremor, " that it was a gentlemanly thing to do ?" Now Mr. Alfred dreaded the word "gentlemanly;" he had morbid sensibilities concerning the application of that word: 412 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OB, " I don't know, I'm sure. I'll think of it," he said. " I hope so," said Lucy, going fluttering out of the room with a motion like a falling blossom. " Oh, a general crisis," remarked Mr. Alfred to himself moodily ; but he coolly went off for a walk, of course get ting a cigar. Well, it was now the evening of September 15th, 184-, as I remember minutely ; for the subsequent adventures of that night were singular, and often the subject of conversa tion in the squadron. It seems that Alfred went wandering about the least-fre quented parts of the town, and it is conjectured (Jigger, of the Bustard, swears to it) that he refreshed himself more than once at cafes. Zarb, of Strada St. Giovanni (who, by the by, would like Jigger's address, if convenient ! ) heard him singing as he passed his shop ; and then it was noticed that a suspicious-looking fellow was following him. Near the marina, at all events about twelve, it would seem that Alfred was seized from behind, and carried on board the Paragon. " When I awoke," said Alfred, at the C. C., afterwards, " I heard a strange gurgling noise, and found myself in a very narrow place. By Jove, Sir ! I was on board our yacht : [look of admiration from Buck, the ruffish actor :] and that fellow, Blobb, had carried me off to sea ! They were going to have him up for bigamy, it seems ; his Eng lish wife had come out to Malta. And, by Jove ! he wanted to be off cheap : so he, made up his mind to go to Sicily and he made me go, or they'd have seized him for stealing the yacht. Gad ! I was obliged to do what he pleased ; and glad I was to get rid of him at Naples, for ho went there." The reader must fancy the astonishment of all parties concerned next morning. Nothing was heard of the yacht FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 413 for ten days. Lucy Beddoes was in great terror, poor thing, and Herbert Flower (as an old friend of the family) was constantly at their house. At last, news came that the yacht was at Naples, and Alfred at the Victoria waiting for supplies from Mr. Snigsby. It was remarked, that his let ters to Lucy were very cool. But one never knows the truth of these breaking-off cases. An " attachment," as a fanciful friend remarks, when it does break, smashes into so many bits, that you can never put them together, so as to get a notion of how it looked when it was whole ! At all events, the "attachment" did break off. Mrs. Cockatoo asserts, that Herbert Flower, one evening, kissed Lucy Beddoes, without being required to apologise ; and Mrs. Flower, wife of the present Herbert Flower, Esq., of Flory, is a very pretty gray-eyed woman and the only one of the " county people " who is properly civil to Lady Gruf- fin Ribs, as the excellent Sir Gr. R. assured my friend Fon- tenoy. It was from Fontenoy that I heard the whole history, at the hospitable house of his brother-in-law, Alfred Welwyu, R. N. The Snigsbys are highly prosperous, and Alfred much improved since his father compelled him to work. Herbert Flower is extremely improved, likewise. " There is always a chance for a gentleman," said my friend F., philosophically, "if he has an atom of sentiment in him. Much thumping is required to bring a disciple of the Sraious SCHOOL into good order though." THE DEATH SHOT- A TALE OF THE COAST GUARD WERE a man to go to Jericho, the reason for such a jour ney would be sufficiently palpable ; but did he cross the Irish Channel, who is there who would not exclaim, " What on earth could induce him ?" nor would the beauty of the lakes, the picturesque sites of Wicklow, or the sublimity of the Giant's Causeway, arise in the mind as a ready solution. Say Paris, Rome, Naples, Venice, Vienna, Florence, Lau sanne, and all their multifarious attractions at once crowd on the imagination, and readily account for the migration of the most indolent gossiper who ever lounged in the bay- window of White's. I sin, therefore, with my eyes open, in not setting forth an elaborate expose of the causes which moved me to visit " The first flower of tlie ocean and gem of the sea ;" but whatever I may purpose hereafter, it happens not to enter into my present plan to communicate more than that I not only found myself in Ireland, but in as black, bleak, rugged, rocky, mountainous a spot as ever an Italian bandit sought, or Messrs. Grieve & Co. delighted^a" London audi ence with. From the turf-fire of the room in which I was located at the village inn, a sufficient quantum of smoke intermingled FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 415 with the atmosphere to give it that peculiar high-dried odor so agreeable to the olfactory nerves of the Milesian. I will not deny that, on the crazy bed which stood in a corner of the room, I had often slept soundly enough still it offered no temptation, and, like the good sauce of hunger, which makes the toughest steak delectable, you must be tho roughly knocked up before you sought the luxury of such repose as it offered. To be sure, two thirds of a bottle of whiskey on the table, and a steaming toddy-kettle on the fire, would have given a very comfortable sort of night-cap to any one who cared not to awake feverish in the morning. From the windows, however, a far different scene pre sented itself : the sky was cloudless, the moon in the full, and every 1 ray reflected by a boundless ocean-mirror not a zephyr ruffling its glassy surface, save at its margin, where the ebbing tide receded from a blanched and almost impal pable sand. It was the witching time of night. I raised the latch, and incontinently strode forth. Howard's picture of fairies disporting by moonlight rose on my imagination, and I looked wistfully for those light, tiny, aerial beings he loved to depict. The only living object, however, which revelled in the moonbeams and moved along the sands, was, though picturesque enough, as diametrically opposite to light, tiny, aerial beings, as a tall, square-shouldered, stalwart, heavy- bearded man could be especially when, instead of butterfly wings and Arachne-wove gossamer robes, he was accoutred in a glazed nor'wester, a tarpaulin cloak and leggings, bore in his hand a formidable bludgeon, and belted round his waist were pistols, sword, ammunition, and port-fire ; in place of fantastic gambols, his gait was slow and measured ; in lieu of quirks and wiles, and wreathed smiles, he cast around cautious, scrutinizing glances. His was no merry salmoth, but the lonely, dreary watch. 416 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, I addressed to one so described, some observations on the beauty of the night, fell into his step,- and we proceeded together. The sands, baying witk a bold sweep, were ter minated by a precipitous ridge of black rocks running out far into the sea. Among these huge, black, chaotic frag ments, a narrow, slippery and dangerous path was marked by white stones, a few feet apart on either side. Notwith standing the brightness of the moon, it required all my at tention, as we rounded the rugged, frowning point, lest by a false step I should be precipitated some thirty feet on the bristling bed of rocks that ranged beneath us. Over head hung a heavy mass, that occasionally left the path in the deepest shade. In one of the most difficult and intricate passes my guide suddenly started, stopped, an with an agitated voice and manner, in a deep Connaught accent, asked : " Did you hear that, sir ?" I had heard nothing but the monotonous washing 'of the waves. " God rest his soul !" he continued, devoutly crossing him self. " Then it's a fearful thing to be cut off unshrived, and no holy man by to make God's peace with you !" "Yet," I observed, "your calling often puts you in such peril ! " Ah then ! when one's on duty, I take it to be quite a different thing. But what I mean is, when one's thoughts are upon life, and maybe about one's wife and children, to be suddenly murdered." " Who 1 How ! When did this happen ?" " On the very spot where we stand. There ! did not your honor hear that ringing shot ? Every year, on the night and at the hour he received the ball that killed him, the report of the carbine is heard. The time was clean out of my head, or I would not have patrolled this spot, at this FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 417 hour ; it always brings bad luck to him that hears it, as what befell poor Mike Blaney, who was on this ground last year, makes certain." There was in the manner of the sailor such a solemn con viction of what he said, that whatever might have been my own incredulity, I forbore making more expression of it than uttering " It's strange !" " Then indeed," he replied, "it is strange, Many of us have heard it and I was talking to your honor, and not a bit thinking about the spot or time, when the report came, sharp as though you had discharged a piece close under my ear ; and, what is not less strange, on the night of the mur der, his wife poor thing was just getting into bed, when the report of a musket, as exploded hard by, made her scream to the servants to know what had happened ; and as they ran to inquire, they met the men on watch coming to the house to know the cause. Nor could it be made out, until the poor officer was picked up and carried stone dead, and cold, into the house though your honor sees it was clean impossible for the report of a carbine to be heard from this to the house. Nor did the men on watch, at either of the next guards, hear a breath of noise that night." Whether that emotions springing from mystery are infec tious, or that there is a latent tendency to superstition, never so thoroughly eradicated as we are prone to believe, the perfect credence the sailor had in these preternatural omens affected me. The hour, the scene, the dreary spot, all lent aid to the interest I felt to know the circumstances that gave rise to these wondrous anniversary mementoes of a deed of blood and crime. " Neal Briant, your honor, was a regular man-o'- war's man, and what's more rare before father Mathew intro duced the pledge was very sober. He returned with a 18* 418 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, good sum of prize-money, obtained leave of absence, got spliced to a comely young woman, with a neat little fortune of a hundred or so ; and as they loved each other, and soon had children enough, it was natural that they should like living together better than being separated for months or years from each other. He got, therefore, turned over to the coast guard. He bought a fishing-boat or two, and as soon as his boys could handle a tiller, or trim a sail, they became expert, fishermen, and added to the family stock. " Neal Briant, as well as being a handsome, smart fellow, could read and write well ; so that it was no wonder ihat in a few years he became a commissioned, and then a chief- boatman. His sons, in the mean time, had become strap ping, clever fellows, and thorough seamen. Not a pilot knew the coast better tjian Willy and Jemmy Briant. They were dare-devils, too. The one went mate some time to a West Indiaman ; the other was master and part owner of a coast ing vessel, running with general freight. " Times weren't then as they are now, sir. There was plenty of money afloat. Gentlemen and, indeed, all other classes of people drank hard. Duties were high ; home made adulterations were not invented. The genuine for eign article must be had at any price, and at all risks. It was a glorious time for smugglers, and for the coast guard too, as far as that went. It was desperate work, it is true, but the rewards on both sides were great. A good run or two was a fortune to a man ; and it was a bad win ter for a coast guard's man if he did not share some hun dreds prize-money. I say winter, for in the short, light nights of summer the risk to the smugglers was too great ; not that they stood at trifles, or cared to sink the craft if they ran the cargo. " An able, resolute young sailor, especially if he knew the coast well, need not beg for service, then. He had his own FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 419 terms, and all sorts of temptations were held out to him ; and if we were not tried, rnore's the pity. Some of our men made a thousand or two, though how it was made, divil a soul could say. " As you came down by the Lough, off to the right, you may have remarked, sir, a high, white house ; it is nigh ruinated now ; only a bit inhabited. The window-frames are shattered, the door planked up all is desertion. Well, there was some good doings in that house, and many a jovial night whiskey galore, and the reek of the kitchen could be winded a mile roun^. A hard-featured, grizzled- headed old fellow lived there one Captain M'Sweeny. He was a cute old fox, with glimmering eyes half shut, and a kind of grinning mouth half open, except wlien he listened, and then it was wedged together, as if he feared the breath would escape him. " He was born a fisher-boy, and glad of a 'tato paring, or the skin of a herring. But he built this house, had a good holding of land, and none know what money. But he is off to America, years ago ; God knows if dead or alive now ! " More than by the guards, revenue cruisers, and customs- Dfficers, the smugglers were ruined by splits among them selves. Many hands must be employed, principals, agents, crews, sea pilots, land pilots ; and it was a great difficulty to find men true and silent, who never babbled over their liquor, and could withstand the bribery and protection government offered for informers ; besides, with temptation without, envy, jealousy, hatred, revenge rankled within. " Now here it was that M'Sweeny went beyond all men ; he was known to be colleagued with the smugglers in two- thirds of the ports of Europe ; he shrunk from no adventure, however desperate ; yet so cute, wary, and cautious was he, so hedged and fenced, that never once was he implicated, 420 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, much less anything brought home against him. The devil's cure to him ! One thing was, he trusted as far as possible no one till the last minute, he kept everything dark ; and those few in whom at last he must trust, he proved his keen ness and craft by" the choice of, and endeavored to bind to him, body, and soul, and estate. Well, sir, the lads bad luck to him ! his treacherous old*eyes soon fell on were Willy and Jemmy Briant ; and didn't that prove the daring, as well as the craft of the old rogue ? for while the lads were clever, fearless, and faithful, warn't they the sons of the most dauntless, intelligent, active man in the customs ser vice, the most inveterate enemy to the smugglers, one they most dreaded, and knew incorruptible ? " Maybe M'S weeny might not have been an ill-looking fellow when young, for time changes all, especially one sub ject to weather and watches, but, above all, suspicion ; evil doings bad passions cause deep furrows and dark lines. " Kate M'S weeny, too, his wife, was a stout, well-built, brave girl enough, and a good wife to him, one that did as he bade her, and never had eyes to see further than he wished, or ears to hear one bit more than he desired, with a ready hand and nimble foot when requisite. Not but one often sees a cross-grained couple with buxom children, but God's truth is, a prettier girl than Kathleen M'Sweeny mortal eyes never looked on ; she had large, loving, soft, blue eyes, swimming amidst long dark lashes j- her light hair fell wav ing and curling in light golden ringlets ; her little rosebud mouth showed rows of pearls. She was a lily, a snow-drop, with a sweet tinge of carnation grafted on her cheeks. She was tall and slight built, but each year added fresh beauties to her form. " If old M'Sweeny loved anything as money, it was Kath leen. You may depend she had suitors enough ; how any FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 421 pleased the girl it was difficult to say, for the heart of a young girl is a riddle that has perplexed many a wise head ; however, none received encouragement from M'Sweeny ; not that he turned the door on them, but now with a good word, now with a bad word, just kept them dangling on. So that, with his money, his cunning, and the beauty of Kathleen, there was not a young fellow he had not some hold of, and whose heart did not jump with joy when he bade them welcome, and Kathleen smiled. Then, among all these young fellows, there was none more tantalized than Willy Briant. Poor lad, one day he looked as though he would throw himself into the sea ; on another he was as joyous as the sunbeamSKlancing on it. v " Perhaps this was a courtship Briant himself might not altogether have approved of, but like all other things in this world, there was much to be said on both sides, and whatever one might think of old M'Sweeny, devil a word could be said in disparagement of Kathleen. If she were a bit of a coquette, as all the sex, and liked to be admired, there was something so coy, wild, and roguish about her, ihat not one of the lads could ever boast he had pressed her hand, or breathed five words of love together in her ear. Indeed the night work we have and other duties prevented Briant knowing much about the matter, and as Mrs. Briant would have liked well enough that Willy should have such a load of money as M'Sweeny, and such a wife as Kathleen, many a time at dinner she would say he was out laying his lobster pots in the Lough, when he was but just dangling about to catch a glimpse of Kathleen. Then, she was just like the rest of the world mighty forgiving how a man made his money, provided he had plenty, and gold was never the worse in the children's hands, however the father !ulght have come by it. J/ The old fox's eyes glimmered as he saw his victim flut- 422 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, ter about the money-jar ; he gradually softened into pretended confidence, asked Willy's advice and opinion upon sundry little nautical matters, and whatever might have been his ultimate views and ambition for Kathleen, filled Willy's heart and head with a thousand hopes built on those vague nothings, which to the young and sanguine are solid as the rocks we tread on. "The vessel Willy had been mate of being m dock, M'Sweeny offered him his interest to get him appointed master Of a large schooner trading to Flushing and other parts. This Willy leapt at, and Jemmy, who loved his bro ther, and believed he would ultimately win Kathleen, was induced to sell his share of the coasfllr, and embark as chief mate of the Atalanta. "At first the trading seems regular, all above board, though there may be concealments for contraband goods, of which neither master nor mate knows anything. The lads once in the hands of those daring desperate gangs, are by degrees worked on, and led astray. First it might be but some lace for Kathleen, or a keg of brandy or a tub of bacca for M'Sweeny. Then without the young hands- well knowing what they are about, they implicate them in some larger transactions, till what by example, what by love of adventure, cupidity, the impossibility of escape, all their good principles are debauched, they become bound soul and body in the perilous, but profitable traffic. " Oh ! the old sinners know well enough how to work round a spirited young fellow, and so the two lads, though as yet with characters untainted by suspicion, and being looked on as thriving, honest young fellows, became fore most in carrying on old M'Sweeney's nefarious plans. "Then he was a real gentleman, a great scholar, and a good officer ; there was something proud and haughty 111 his manner, yet he was the civilest man to speak to, I FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 423 ever knew the devil an oath ever came out of his lips. He was one Lieutenant Gascoine, and a smart seaman, strict and fond of discipline, and liking to see the duty done as it should be, yet he would spare any one else sooner than himself. He was never' prying or bothering his men, now with this, now with that. He had been married to a pretty young woman, just long enough to have a little boy, who was the darling of both. " In this service there are continual dispatches, because, do you see, we are a splice of all things, sailors, soldiers, police customs, conservators of the fisheries, quarantine offi cers, just something of everything, without being much of anything. Well, sir, "as became known at the court-martial, one night the officer received a confidential dispatch from Flushing. It described the Atalanta by name, build and rig ; the strongest suspicions were entertained that she be longed to wealthy adventurers, and was about to attempt a large run. The letter went on to say that the master and mate were supposed to be the sons of some chief-boat man of the coast guard. The officers were enjoined to keep a strict look-out for this vessel, secretly to inform them selves of the employment of the men's sons, and to report thereon, with such intelligence as they could collect respect ing the Atalanta. " Soon Lieutenant Gascoine learnt that it was Willy and Jemmy, the sons of Briant, who were the master and mate of the Atalanta. The lads were constantly writing home to their mother and sisters to have news of Kathleen, and of themselves, so that the whereabouts of the Atalanta, probable time of her sailing, where it was likely she would touch, where bound, when to return, were continually known to - our officer, and reported ; and thus every precaution taken for her capture in due time. . " Thus the affection of the boys for their parents betrayed 424 SWELL LIFE AT SEA ; OR, their employers, and the garrulity of the fond mother, and the pride of old Briant in his sons, betrayed the children. " The sun was setting heavily among the gathering black clouds, when the man on duty reported that an unknown schooner was working in the offing : the officer took his glass and examined her movements. We were all standing by, when Briant taking up the glass from the man on watch, after an instant's sight of her, exclaimed joyfully 'She's the Atalanta, she's the Atalanta.' " The officer turned on his heel without a word, and in a few minutes expresses were sent off to the commander of the district, and to the officers commanding our flanks right and left. Not long after that, Paddy Sullivan, a fisherman, who has a hut and a 'tato' field down by the bourne, wanted to have a speech With the Lieutenant. "Now, whether it was Paddy Sullivan or not, God knows ! only Paddy was known to change a ten-pound note not long after in the purchase of a cow, and he added a bit more to his potato garden ; however that may be, it seems that Mr. Gascoine got intelligence that Mike Magee, who had been absent some months, suddenly returned. " Now, your honor must know, Mike had the reputation of being one of the cutest land-pilots of these parts and as you may have heard more of sea-pilots than of land-pilots, I'll just tell you the nature of their business, which is this : whenthe run has been made, they direct the route, and the way in which it shall be passed up the country ; and there is not a cave or hole, or rabbit burrow, nor a crag, nor a glen, nor a pass, that they are not acquainted with better than your honor may be with the high road. There is not a hare that could double like Mike, nor a fox more cunning to cut off the scent when pursued. " There is one Mclvoy, a well-to-do man, that holds a large farm convenient to the sea. NDW, all the world FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 425 knows that Mclvoy is not over nice how he comes by a bit of money, so long as he can but grab it. Well, he has a few sheds and out-houses that are washed by the sea at high tide, and since Mike's return, he had been employed in making repairs, though not a rail had been driven in be fore, this many a day. " Now, I have been out on many a dark night, but one so black as that, in my life I never knew not the twinkle of a star ; the sky was like a tarpaulin. I had patrolled here, then, ten to fifteen years, but not a step could I take till I got a glimpse of one of our marks to direct me. Well, sir, our officer having as usual examined all our arms, sent us out to the different guards, but between twelve and one, when he came out to visit the guards, instead of ex changing us, he brought us in with him. " We all thought that since all was so quiet, and it was impossible to see a yard before one, it might be to dismiss us to bed. "Lieutenant Gascoine marched us beyond Mclvoy's, then whistled in the patrols at the extreme south. He called Briant, and Bob Smith, a commissioned boatman, aside, and gave orders to Briant to take three men, and moving among the rocks to the water's edge, to lie in am bush close to Mclvoy's sheds ; while Bob Smith was to take a file, go round by the north, and do the same. They were to be silent as death, and not to move should any one approach, till a landing had been effected, when they wer*e to rush out and secure the men. "Mr. Gascoine and the rest moved down on the centre We were to conceal ourselves "standing, squatting, or lying down, as best we might but as I told you, it was pitch dark, so that was not a matter of much difficulty. " We laid there, may be half an hour, not the whistle of a curlew to break the silence. Some fell asleep, and all 426 SWELL LIFE AT SEA; OR, wondered what we were doing there, for as I before said, Gascoine was not a man to have whims or caprices, as some officers have. " At length our attention was aroused by a slight splash in the water, for ears become wonderfully acute by watch ing, when all around is silent. The leap of a fish would have more disturbed the sea ; at long intervals another, and another, followed. " We strained our eyes, but could perceive nothing we somehow felt the approach of something, rather than saw or heard it. There was a slight sound then a rush, and the crossing of swords ; and the low call and whistle of par ties the deep struggle the shortened and panting breath and then the centre charged down. " 'Look out to the north/ roared Briant, ' I have grap pled one villain,' and striking his port-fire, the light glared on his prisoner, whom he held by the throat. He gazed on his son, William I " 'Father I' exclaimed William. The port-fire fell from Briant's hand, the prisoner from his grasp, but Bob Smith, with the butt end of his carbine, felled him to the ground. "'Surrender, surrender! or by heaven, I fire/ called out Gascoine, holding a light in one hand, a pistol in an other. " The light fell on a youth, who, with a naked cutlass in his hand, seemed irresolute to fight or fly. He rushed for ward ; but the ball from Gascoine's pistol struck him, and he rolled over. Oh I then it was Jemmy Briant. The skir mish rent on, though it was mfficult to tell friend from foe. Some of our men ran into the sea and shouted, ' We have got the yawl ! they are shoving off ! lend a hand here, my lads/ Gascoine and some of us leaped into the sea : they were desperate in the boat. I got this lash on the cheek FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 427 her ; but, however, we got on board some we overpowered and manacled, some leaped into the sea. " Our officer shouted to those on shore to look out for them. " Daylight broke. We found two or three kegs of brandy on shore, ten more in the boat, and four or five tubs of tobacco ; five men we had prisoners two badly wounded, one of whom was Jem Briant. "Some of us got a hurt or two, but lost neither life nor limb. From the intelligence Lieut. Gascoine had given, the Atalanta herself was captured by the Eclipse revenue crui ser. Well, sir, we shared a good lump of prize money ; but one would think there was a curse on -it, for, somehow or other, it seemed to bring misfortune to us all. " It is a remark I have made, that, let a station be ever so happy, and officer and men and men with men ever so well together, the moment there is money to divide, instead of pleasure it brings discord, envy, hatred, bickering, dis content, and quarrels. They say the way to gain an action is, that each man should believe the victory depended on him. This may do in the fight, but when the prize comes to be divided, each thinks the whole or largest share should belong to him, and that every other division is unjust. Why should Tom have that? was it not I that ? Oh! there's no end of the bragging and backbiting. Well may they say money is the root of all evil ; and yet we are glad to risk our lives to get it. " It was an unlucky hour for the Briants. The prisoners were committed to jail. Jem Briant long suffered from his wound, and they were all transported for fourteen years. " Lieut. Gascoine always appeared to have great confi dence in Briant, nor do I think would willingly do him harm. But the authorities did not like the affair alto* gether. 428 SWELL LIFE AT SEA: OR " Briant was tried by a court-martial. It was a hard case for him, after his long service and good conduct. But the feeling of the court was unfavorable, and the evidence of the lieutenant and Smith as to the release of William bore against him, so that he was broke and mulcted of his prize-money, while Robert Smith was promoted to chief- boatman. " From that hour Briant never held up his head. He and his wife were broken-hearted at the fate of Willy and Jem my, and his own disgrace. He became an altered man wan and slovenly in his appearance, and at last took to the drink dispirited when sober, and quarrelsome when half drunk. Faith, he was sorely tried ! for his daughters buxom girls it may be they dressed too much, held their heads too high, and looked upon themselves as the best matches in these parts could not bear their fall, and that the Miss Smiths should take the lead ; so one morning both bolted, and, I have heard, took to bad courses first in Dublin, then in London. Altogether, Briant had desperate fits of wrath, and looked on Lieut. Gascoine as the ruin of himself, wife, and children. I often tried to talk him over, and to show him the officer only did what was his duty, and what indeed he could not help doing. But that only mado him outrageous, and with oaths he would say " ' Did he not make a catspaw of me to betray my own boys ? With his own hand did he not shoot Jemmy, and command Black Bob Smith to fell the other when he had a chance to make away ? On the trial, what color did he give to the shock I felt when I found I grasped my own son by the throat ? I am no coward, or traitor, and have always done my duty like a man, and fear nothing. But was it not natural I should feel amazed and woe-struck ? And for this am I to be broke mulcted even of my miser able prize-money ? The d d villains ! T should like to FUN, FRIGATES AND YACHTING. 429 know how they would have acted ! I would pitch th.e ser vice to the devil ; but at my age now they have had all my youth and best blood out of me what am I fit for ? Was it not enough to lose my two boys to have my poor girls' hearts turned to have the poor old woman's heart broken ! but that here I am disgraced and degraded, the labor of my life lost ! Mark me ! V I am d d, but I will be avenged yet !' " Now the truth was, the officer pitied him ; and often, when his keen eyes must have detected that Briant was fuddled, though it was clean against his nature and princi ples, he would overlook it, and take opportunity privately to encourage Briant, and to warn him against taking to liquor. But all this only exasperated Briant the more against him. " Then Mrs. Gascoine herself would walk over with her little boy, and call on Mrs. Briant, and try to cheer her, for the poor old soul would sit weeping and wringing her hands by the hour. It was sad to look on her, sure enough ! and I believe the sight of Mrs. Gascoine and her son, seeing them look so blooming and happy, and Gascoine and her so doat- ing on each other, only made Briant hate them the more. " Now it was just such a lovely still night as this, and your honor may have noticed a clear spring of water that jets from a rock, and has worn itself a basin, into which it continually falls, while the rock whence it flows is covered with moss, sea pinks, and a thousand tiny rock flowers. Ah then ! that was a favorite spot with Mrs. Gascoine, and often, with the wide ocean at their feet, she would sit there and work, while her husband read to, or conversed with, her, and the little boy would be filling her lap with, or twining in her hair, all kinds of wild flowers. Poor fel low ! he called it after her, ' Jessie's Font,' and it goes by that name to this hour. 430 SWELL LIFE AT SEA "It was anigh midnight, and Gascoine was about to visit the guards, when she came out with him, and they seated themselves at the font, and he clasped one of her hands in his, while with another he was pointing out the stars that were in full glory, shining sweetly on them. He had thrown off his hat, and she was without a bonnet, and as their eyes were cast up to heaven, I thought I never looked on a more beautiful couple, for you see, as the moon light fell on them, it was a picture. I had that guard, and as I walked past them, I could hear them converse on the soul and immortality that was the last time I ever saw him alive. "Then it is* an awful thing to condemn any one, more especially when the laws have acquitted him, seeing there is no dependence on circumstances, however suspicious they may be. " Neal Brian t, the night before, had been making too free with the whiskey. The officer sent him to bed, and in the morning spoke kindly, but determined, to him. He told him, with almost tears in his eyes, that, however it would grieve him, he could never again overlook such con duct that he must report him, and that Briant well knew the consequence. This seemed to touch Briant for the mo ment. But his heart was all changed and altered, and in stead of penitence, he was all vindictiveness. Gascoine passed along the guards, changing the men, as is our custom. " Briant had the patrol we are now on, which is next to the extreme south ; the man who had the guard below saw them walking together, that is, the officer in advance, Briant following some paces in the rear. Briant relieved Bi&ke at the extreme, who came in- on this guard, but he was alone, and no mention was made of the officer. Blake FUN, FRIGATES, AND YACHTING. 431 took the sands, but as the tide was making, returned by tho path, and just here, in this dark nook, on the spot where I heard the report of the carbine, he stumbled over some thing. He found it was a man he shook him no reply. He dragged the body to the moonliglit to his horror it was Lieutenant Gascoine weltering in his blood, the back part of his head blown off : he was lying on his face, quite dead, but still warm. " Blake whistled and -called ; he fired off his pistols, and burnt his port-fire. Smith and the crew came rushing to "him ; they bore the body to the station, where they found us in consternation, for Mrs. Gascoine and all of us had heard the shot that must have killed her husband ; though whence it came we knew not. The suspicion of Smith, then in command, fell on Briant, but his carbine was clean and loaded, and he had his regular charges of ammunition'; the muzzle of his tarpaulin carbine-case was, however, blown off, but this he proved to have been done by accident seve ral days before. All he knew was, that the lieutenant had sent him on, to send in Blake. Smith had him taken be fore the magistrates, and he was committed. " The ball that killed the officer was found, and* sure enough it was one of the regular carbine balls. "Ah, then ! it was a house of woe, and it would have moved the heart of a flint to see Mrs. Gascoine and the little boy throw themselves wailing on the corpse our wives and the fishermen filled the house, and there was not a dry eye among us, for the bleeding body and the young wife and child looked piteous, and all loved Gascoine, ex cept perhaps M'Sweeny and his gang. " Well, sir, Briant was tried, and, in spite of all, acquit ted ; but in our own minds he was never clear, and when he returned from gaol, we resolved not to petition for his 432 SWELL LIFE AT SEA, ETC. removal, and that we would associate with him, if he would swear by his holy Saviour that he was innocent of the mur der. However he might turn it, he never would swear- direct that he did not commit this black deed." "Would a man* 7 1 exclaimed, "who had committed a murder, hesitate about an oath ?" " I know not, sir ; but Briant never would swear. " He was discharged from this, but what became of him we never heard." IBB EHP THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW RENEWED BOOKS ARE SUBJECT TO IMMEDIATE RECALL LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS Book Slip-50m-8,'69(N831s8)458-A-31/5 Dawson's Book Shop 1 N9 661639 PZl Thrilling scenes on T415 the ocean. LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA DAVIS